Rider's Return
by The Needless Lobsters
Summary: One bullet. One dead. But Alex Rider wasn't the target. What happens when Alex witnesses the murder of a Petty Officer, and ex-SCORPIA assassins kidnap him for that rather than their corporation? Set in 'The Gibbs Project' universe. After Scorpia Rising.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, readers! Here it is: my sequel to _The Gibbs Project_. You don't have to read the story to understand the characters, but I think it will make a lot more sense. I think this is going to be the start of an Alex Rider series that I've also planned, but I'm not exactly sure yet. It could happen, it could not. Anyway, enjoy the story!**

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><p>He looked over his shoulder as he sprinted down at alleyway. Were they still chasing him? The echoing sound of pounding footsteps gave him his answer. He groaned. They were still after him…<p>

He had to lose them.

He tried to sprint faster down the alleyway, only to hear the footsteps behind him speed up as well. He took deeper breaths to get more oxygen into his lungs and to his muscles so that he could push himself harder. He could feel his muscles tiring and weakening, but he pushed himself on. He could see the end of the alleyway. _If only I could…_

His train of thought was stopped suddenly when he heard a bang and felt the ground beside him explode. He nearly fell to the side. _Bullets, great,_ he thought as he continued to run on. The next bullets landed closer to his feet, almost catching him. He nearly cheered for joy when he ran out of the alleyway into an open street… right into the rain. He'd forgotten about how hard it had been pouring when he'd entered he alleyway.

He searched frantically for somewhere to hide as he sprinted down the road. He knew they wouldn't shoot when there were innocents that could alert the police, so hiding in the crowd wasn't that hard to do… if there was a crowd.

Everyone had left the usually busy shopping area already to get home to their families, so there was barely anyone there. He could easily get shot and barely anyone would realize.

He spotted another alleyway on the same side of the street, just a few blocks down. If only he could get there in time…

He sped up as he neared the alleyway. The chasers would be out any minute…

He jumped into the small alleyway, hiding himself behind a large trash can, and took deep breaths to calm himself. He hoped they wouldn't find him…

Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, he held his breath. The footsteps neared the alleyway entrance before there was a shout. The footsteps retreated slowly, before disappearing altogether.

He gave a huge sigh of relief before getting up and walking cautiously out of the alleyway. He looked around to make sure his pursuers were actually gone before putting the hood up on his hoodie. Now to find shelter…

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><p>Petty Officer Peter Marks opened his fridge to find it, yet again, empty. He sighed. "I really have to go food shopping this week."<p>

The Petty Officer was around twenty-eight years old, with close-cropped red hair and bright blue eyes, and had a square jaw that gave him handsome features. At that moment he was wearing an old Harvard sweatshirt with a pair of grey jogging bottoms. The Harvard sweatshirt wasn't his – it was a 'hand-me-down' from his older brother who was currently working in law.

Peter picked up a small Chinese menu from a counter on his right before walking into the living room and picking up the house phone from its stand. He dialed a number.

"_Hello, Spring Garden Chinese, how can I help you?_" a man with a slight Chinese accent answered on the other line.

"Hi, I'd like to order some Chinese?"

"_Of course. May I take your order?_"

Peter looked down at the menu. "Yeah, I'll have some barbecue roast pork…"

"_How many portions?_"

"Two please." Peter looked down at the menu. "And some spring rolls – two portions."

"_Ok. Anything else?_"

"Uh, can I have one portion of Chicken Chow Mein and…" Peter paused when he heard a knock at the door.

"_Anything else, sir?_"

Peter ignored the voice on the line and walked slowly to the door, getting his gun from its holster on a table by the door, just in case it was some murderer. No one would come to his house at this time of night, especially as he usually lived in Quantico and this was his spare house when he needed to get away from it all.

"_Sir?_"

Peter placed the phone down on the table by the door before holding his gun out at the door. _Should I just shoot through the glass or look at who it is and then shoot?_ He placed his hand on the doorknob carefully, taking a deep breath, before suddenly twisting it and pulling the door open, pointing the gun at whoever stood there.

The person stood in front of him froze. "All you could've said was that I'm not wanted here."

Peter stared at the person in shock.

A teenage boy stood on his front porch, soaked to the bone, with a strong jaw line and handsome features. He had deep brown eyes and a tall, muscular figure – he was probably around 6ft tall, give or take a couple of inches. He wore a dark blue hoodie with the hood up so that his hair wasn't visible, and a pair of dark jeans with a pair of Nike trainers. That wasn't what unnerved him, though. The features were frighteningly familiar to Peter, like he'd seen him a couple of times before…

The teenage boy pulled back the hood he was wearing, revealing a mop of fair hair that hung down to his ears with his fringe in his eyes, and Peter nearly gasped. He knew where he'd seen the boy before.

"A…Alex? Alex Rider?"

Alex smiled. "I see you still remember me, then."

Peter picked up the phone. "Uh, that'll be all, thanks."

"_Ok. Your delivery should arrive in about half an hour to an hour, sir._"

Peter smiled. "Thank you." He hadn't bothered about telling them his address – he'd phoned them so many times, they must've remembered it. He ended the call and turned to Alex, who was still standing outside the door, hands in his pockets, soaking in the rain.

"Uh…"

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Alex smirked.

Peter couldn't help but smile. The boy's smile was contagious, after all. "Sure. You need to get out of the rain, anyway." He stepped to the side as the boy walked into his home, leaving a trail of water behind him.

Alex looked around the place. "Nice place you have here."

Peter shut the door and followed Alex into the living room. "Thanks. It's all I could afford."

Alex stood in the middle of the living room. "Are you going to put the gun down, then?"

Peter chuckled as he placed the gun on the coffee table. "You must be freezing, Rider," he noted aloud as he noticed Alex shivering a little as he observed the room. "I'll get you some clothes."

"I'm fine… really…" Alex tried to convince the Petty Officer.

"Sure you are." Peter left the room and headed upstairs to fetch Alex some clothes.

As soon as Peter had left the room, Alex headed for the window that overlooked the street. It was dark outside, making it hard for him to see anything out there. Yes, he could still see people walking out on the street, but it was too dark to see any of his pursuers, even if they were still there.

He sighed and walked away from the window, knowing that if he stayed there any longer his pursuers might shoot him. That was, if they'd followed him here.

"Here we go," Peter said as he entered the living room, carrying a blue t-shirt with a pair of loose jogging bottoms. He'd also brought down a pair of socks and one of his old hoodies. He handed the pile to Alex, who took them gratefully.

"Thanks." He looked through to clothes. "This many clothes?"

Peter chuckled. "You looked cold when you were standing at the door. Be grateful."

Alex smirked. "Yes sir."

Peter smiled. "Bathroom's the first door on the left, Alex."

Alex nodded before leaving the room. Just as he left the room, Peter heard the doorbell ring. He walked to the door and opened it, expecting it to be the Chinese delivery guy, but he frowned when he saw a short blonde woman standing at his door.

"Uh… hi?" Peter asked.

"Hello, I am looking for my son?" the woman said.

Peter frowned. "Sorry, I haven't seen any little kids around here…"

"He's about fifteen years old, with fair hair and brown eyes. He's quite tall," the woman described.

Peter looked slightly taken aback for a moment. "Uh, sorry. Not seen anyone around here like that. Try next door." He shut the door in the woman's face.

"That the delivery guy?" Alex asked as he walked out of the bathroom wearing the new clothes. All of them fit perfectly, apart from the hoodie which was about two sizes too big. To Alex, however, it felt snug. With the extra long sleeves, he felt like a little child again.

Peter shook his head. "No." He turned to face Alex. "Alex, come and sit down. I need to talk to you."

Alex frowned and followed Peter into the living room, sitting on the sofa so that he was facing the window. Peter faced him on the sofa, sitting facing away from the window. There was a short silence before Peter spoke.

"Alex, why exactly are you here?" he asked.

Alex tensed. After all his months of spying, it only took one month of relaxing for him to finally drop his spying habits. He cursed inwardly. "Uh…"

"Alex…" Peter warned. "I can still take my clothes back and kick you out of the house."

Alex sighed. "Well…" But he never got to finish his explanation.

There was a clink as something cut through the glass window, and Peter gasped in pain before falling off the chair. Alex frowned before he noticed the blood leaking out of his back. He looked up at the window quickly, noticing the small glint of the sniper gun, before turning his attention back to Peter. The Petty Officer was dying. He got down on his knees and quickly turned the Petty Officer onto his front, applying pressure to the wound.

He didn't notice the pursuer come into the house until it was too late.

The soft footsteps behind him alerted him to a presence, and he turned quickly to see who it was. He got a glance at his face, but he didn't get to study the person.

Nor did he get to save the Petty Officer's life.

Because before he could even comprehend what was happening, he was out cold.

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><p><strong>So, what do you think? I hope you liked it. Review!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed the last chapter! I feel really grateful for it! So, here's the next chapter, people! I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Gibbs sighed into the pillow. It was the first time in weeks that he was actually getting some real sleep, and Andy and Jessie had finally persuaded him to sleep in his bed upstairs. It wasn't until he'd actually gotten into bed that he'd realized how much he'd missed it.<p>

And then the phone rang.

Gibbs groaned and turned over in bed. It was very uncharacteristic of him, he knew, but being a father meant he needed his sleep.

Which was cut short when Jessie burst into his room carrying the phone.

"Daddy! It's the office!" she cried as she jumped onto the bed.

Gibbs grunted as he grabbed the phone as it bounced into the air. "Yeah, Gibbs?" There was a murmur on the other line before he got up. "Yeah, I'll be there." He ended the call and sat up fully.

Jessie pouted. "Are you going into work, daddy?"

Gibbs nodded as he got off the bed. "I've got a case, honey." He grabbed his shirt from his bedside table and quickly slipped it on before grabbing his hoodie from his bedpost and putting that on over the top. He grabbed his jeans and quickly switched into those.

"But daddy, you said I could go to Vida's house today!" Jessie whined.

Gibbs sighed. Vida was a new friend that Jessie had acquired, mainly because she was half-Israeli and since she'd met Ziva she'd decided she loved Israelis. "Andy can drop you off."

Jessie pouted. "That means I have to take a bus, though!"

Gibbs sighed. "Jess…" He zipped up his hoodie and grabbed his cell phone. "Stop whining. I've gotta go." He gave Jessie a kiss on the forehead. "See ya."

"But daddy!" Jessie called out, only to be met by the shutting of a door as Gibbs ran past Andy downstairs and out the front door. She sighed.

That was meant to be their weekend together…

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><p>Gibbs pulled up at the crime scene in his car, putting his NCIS cap on before getting out of the car and proceeding towards the crime scene tape that surrounded the house – from the open door to the smashed window and beyond.<p>

The officer smiled at Gibbs as he approached her. She was a young woman, maybe in her late twenties, with fair hair and hazel eyes. Her curly hair was tied back into a ponytail, which poked out of the back of her police hat.

Gibbs nodded at the officer. "What've we got here, officer?"

The officer pulled out a notepad. "A dead marine in the living room, killed by a bullet to the back. There's a broken window, but the doors don't show signs of forced entry. All three of your agents have already arrived. One's taking pictures, one's tagging evidence, and one's talking to the Chinese delivery guy."

Gibbs nodded before walking into the house. The front hall seemed relatively clean, until you reached the living room archway. Blood covered the carpets, staining them so much that they couldn't be cleaned properly.

"What've you got?" Gibbs called out as he walked in.

"Nothing much, boss," Tony answered. "Just blood samples, tissue samples, hair samples…"

"DiNozzo…"

"And it looks like the guy was sniped, boss." Tony pointed at the one window that had been left relatively intact, which had a small hole in it. He took a photo of it. "Looks like our Petty Officer had enemies."

"Anything else?"

"The man probably was sniped, Jethro," Ducky explained as he walked in, "but I would like to get a look at him first."

Palmer followed not long after, placing the doctor's bag right beside the body from Ducky to use. Ducky took out the liver probe and pushed it into the body, waiting a little while for the readings to come up. When they did, he frowned. "He was killed approximately twelve hours ago, which would make it –"

"2100," Gibbs answered.

Palmer looked at where the bullet entered the body. "It looks like the bullet went straight in, missing the ribs and going straight through the left lung to the heart." Palmer gave a small smile. "Gives a real meaning to the words 'shot in the back', huh?" He laughed nervously, until he caught Gibbs staring at him.

"I have footprints," Ziva called out from the corridor. Tony walked out to join her, taking photos of the large boot prints that had been left.

"This guy must've had big feet," Tony stated.

"They're as big as yours, Tony," Ziva pointed out.

Tony frowned. "Your point?"

McGee walked into the house. "Hey boss? The Chinese delivery guy said he arrived here at 2130, bringing the Petty Officer's delivery, when he found the door to the house open. He walked into the house and found the Petty Officer before calling 911."

"That's it?" Gibbs asked.

"That's all he knows," McGee corrected. "He wasn't here when the guy was shot, or when the killer left."

Tony frowned. "What I don't get is why the killer came into the house when the Petty Officer had already been sniped."

Ziva bit her lip as she looked around for clues, before noticing a thin blood trail running from the living room down the corridor. She frowned and followed it, not sure what to expect.

Tony put his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe he was a rookie?"

McGee raised an eyebrow at him. "A rookie? Tony, this was a professional job."

Ziva stopped when she noticed the blood trail stop. It came to an end right in front of the store cupboard, where she suspected all the supplies were kept. She was just about to open the cupboard when she heard a slight groan coming from inside. She frowned. Someone or something was in there… "Gibbs!"

Gibbs headed down the corridor to where Ziva stood, in front of a storage cupboard. "Yeah, David?"

Tony and McGee followed their boss, curious as to what the female agent had managed to find.

"Something is in there," she stated.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

Another groan came from inside the cupboard, as well as a thump as something got hit and fell.

Gibbs and Ziva both pulled their guns out of their holsters instinctively, and Tony and McGee did the same. Gibbs nodded to the other three agents as he placed his hand on the door handle, and the three prepared themselves for when Gibbs would open the door.

_One… two… THREE!_

Gibbs pulled the door open, and the agents pointed their guns at whatever was in the closet… only to drop their guns slowly.

A boy, probably around the age of fifteen, had been shoved into the cupboard carelessly, blood dribbling across his forehead from a cut and a bruise right beside it. The boy's hair was messed up and stuck in clumps around his face, as if it had been wet and was still drying. His face was scrunched up in pain – the reason why he occasionally groaned.

Ziva reached forward and put two fingers to his neck. "He has a pulse."

McGee nodded. "I'll call 911." He headed off to the entrance of the house to make the call.

Tony looked around the cupboard. "It doesn't look as if he struggled when he was put in here, boss – everything seems pretty much clean."

"Apart from that box on the floor, DiNozzo," Gibbs stated, pulling gloves on before reaching out to pick up the box. Tony grabbed a bag as Gibbs picked it up before opening it for him to put the box in.

"It must've dropped when the kid was chucked in here, boss," Tony concluded.

Gibbs just handed the bag to Tony. "To the van."

Tony groaned and took the bag, heading over to the van so that the evidence could be taken back to the headquarters.

Not long after, the whirr and blares of sirens could be heard outside. Ziva stepped away from the boy's body.

"I think he should be fine – just a concussion," she summarized. "The paramedics will come to a firmer conclusion, though."

Gibbs nodded and watched as the paramedics filed in. He just hoped the boy would be alright.

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter, my readers! I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>The first thing Alex felt when he woke up was a pounding headache. Then his senses started working. He was lying on a soft bed, in what smelt like an overly-clean room. He could feel needles in his arm, but he could only hear faint footsteps from outside. That, and the sound someone drinking something. Coffee, if he was smelling right.<p>

He opened his eyes a little and tried to get a view of his surroundings.

The room was bright – too bright. And that was due to the white walls and floors. Alex nearly groaned.

He was in a hospital.

"I see you're awake."

Alex turned his head to see a silver haired man with ice blue eyes sitting on a chair in the corner, watching him and holding a cup of what he suspected was coffee. Strong coffee.

"Yeah…" Alex managed to croak before his throat got too dry to form words. He needed a drink. "Uh…" he managed to choke out.

The man seemed to realize what he meant, and got up to retrieve the cup of water that was there just in case he woke up. He fed the straw into Alex's mouth, and watched as Alex gulped from it greedily.

"Thanks," Alex gasped as he pulled away from the drink.

Gibbs smiled softly. "No problem." He put the cup down. "The name's Gibbs."

Alex nodded slightly, wary of his pounding head. "I'm Alex." He looked at Gibbs. "Are you a marine?"

Gibbs frowned. "What makes you think that?"

Alex shrugged. "The coffee. And I have an old friend whose relative is a marine."

That was technically true. Sabina's neighbour's father was a marine, even though they lived in San Francisco, and she was pretty close to her neighbour, so they could be considered family in a way. Alex had met the marine a couple of times, and he had the same gruff demeanor as Gibbs. Plus, he loved his strong coffee.

Gibbs chuckled. "Not all marines are like this."

Alex smiled. "But most are."

Gibbs shook his head at the teenage boy. He was already opening up to the kid – probably because he reminded him so much of Andy. The only difference was this kid had brown eyes and fair hair, whilst Andy had green eyes and mouse brown hair. Their personalities were very similar, though.

"It's nice to see you two have gotten acquainted."

Gibbs and Alex both looked up to see a redheaded doctor with blue-green eyes standing at the door. Her hair was curly, and was held back in a ponytail as usual.

Gibbs nodded. "Doctor Martins."

The doctor nodded back at Gibbs. "Special Agent Gibbs. It's unfortunate that we have to meet in such negative circumstances."

Gibbs nodded solemnly. "It is."

The doctor smiled at Alex. "So, how has my patient been doing?"

Alex shrugged. "Tired. Hungry. Thirsty."

Dr Martins chuckled. "I guess those are usual feelings of a teenage boy, eh?" She checked his vitals quickly. "You seem to be healing quickly." She noted this down on her clipboard. "Now, your bruises…"

Alex blushed and turned away.

"I can see you don't want to talk about them, but I would feel safer if some of them were wrapped up, due to how recent they are."

Alex nodded. "Alright." He had hoped that his bruises had healed, or at least faded, but of course – the incident had only happened about a month or two ago. He shouldn't have been hoping for so much.

The doctor nodded. "I'll send in a nurse soon to wrap them up for you." She turned to Gibbs. "Agent Gibbs, a word?"

Gibbs got up and followed the doctor out of the room, closing the door behind him so that Alex wouldn't hear.

"Mr Gibbs, I know this boy was found at the crime scene of one of your recent investigations."

Gibbs nodded. "But…"

The doctor sighed. "He has a concussion."

Gibbs frowned. "So?"

"So, that means he may have no recollection of what happened at all." She glared pointedly at Gibbs. "I have heard a lot about you, Special Agent Gibbs, especially around this hospital. Do not push him too far. I want this boy recovered and out as soon as possible, not dying from stress. Is that understood?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her. "That it?"

The doctor nodded curtly. "Keep my instructions, and you will be able to return to see the boy."

Gibbs sighed. "Fine." He turned to walk back into the room.

"Oh, and Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs turned back to face the doctor.

"How is Andrew?"

Gibbs smiled a little. "He's doing well. His arm's 100%, and so is his leg. He's back into sports."

Dr Martins smiled. "That's good. He's stopped coming to the physiotherapy sessions, so I'm glad he's still doing something to keep active." She gave Gibbs one last nod before she headed off to see another of her patients.

Gibbs walked back into the room, smiling when he noticed Alex was sat up on the bed, waiting for him.

"What did she say?" Alex asked immediately, curious as to what had happened outside his room.

"Just something about not making you stressed," Gibbs replied nonchalantly.

Alex frowned. "Stressed? Why would you make me stressed?" His mind was on high alert. _Gibbs could be anything – a killer, or a torturer…_

Gibbs just sighed. Alex took this as a warning sign and immediately put guards up. _What was he playing at?_

Gibbs noticed how tense Alex had quickly become. "Hey, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you."

Alex looked at him wearily before slowly letting his guard down. "Then why did you sigh?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him. "I just need to ask you a few questions."

Alex frowned before nodding. "Alright." He sat up more fully. "What are these questions about?" he asked.

Gibbs took a deep breath. _How was he meant to break this to a teenager?_ "I need to know what you saw on the night of Petty Officer Marks' death."

Alex froze. _Petty Officer Marks' death? Peter was dead?_ "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

Gibbs frowned. "You were found on the scene of the crime, Alex." He sat closer to the boy. "Do you know _anything_ that happened?"

Alex shook his head quickly. "I… I don't…"

Gibbs sighed. The doctor was right – he had short-term amnesia. "What was the last thing you remember?"

Alex frowned as he tried to remember. "I… I came to DC… with Liz, and Edward and Sabina…"

Gibbs leant forward on his seat. "And then…?"

Alex concentrated harder. "And then Sabina and I… we went out of the hotel…"

"And…"

Alex's face fell. "I can't remember the rest." He started rubbing his face furiously.

Gibbs nodded and put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay."

"No it's not okay!" Alex immediately turned on him. "You have a case, and I'm the only witness! You need my help for this, and I can't even remember a thing!" He sighed before smiling. "Get me out of here."

"What?" Gibbs was the one frowning now.

"Take me to your place. I'll need to be in witness protection anyway, right?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him. "One of the other agents will be assigned to take care of you…"

"If I stay at your place, I'll tell you when I remember anything." Alex was pleading Gibbs now. "Please? I want to get out of here!"

Gibbs sighed. "Fine." _The second time this month I've lost an argument to a teenager._

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**The amount of reviews I have for this story... I feel so loved by you all! Thanks for all of your reviews! Here's your next chapter, enjoy!**

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><p>"Are you sure you'll be alright, Mr Rider?"<p>

"Yes, for the bloody _millionth time_. I'll be fine!"

"No need to be rude, young man."

"I'm not being rude! You're just getting so bloody annoying!"

"Mr Rider! May I please remind you to watch your language as there are children nearby?"

"Yes, you may."

Gibbs just shook his head and chuckled as he watched Alex argue with the nurse continuously as he was wheeled out of the hospital and to the blue car that was waiting in the car park. The teenage boy was wearing a blue hoodie, a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans – apparently what he'd been wearing when he'd gone out with his sister, Sabina.

Alex had originally protested against being in a wheelchair, and after Gibbs saw the way he glanced at it with distaste, he knew he was going to have trouble with getting him into it. He just didn't think that would've involved Alex getting so annoyed with the nurse just for getting him to sit in the wheelchair whilst he signed the release forms.

"I don't want to sit in this bloody wheelchair!" Alex complained.

"I'm sorry, Mr Rider, but it's hospital policy," the nurse sighed.

"Stupid hospital policy," Alex mumbled as he was wheeled out of the main entrance into the car park.

"It's that hospital policy that keeps you from being pulled out of the hospital when you're half-dead, Alex," Gibbs pointed out. "Remember that."

"Yeah, yeah." Alex got out of the wheelchair as it neared the car and climbed into the car, ignoring the protests of the nurse.

Gibbs just shook his head and climbed into the driver's seat.

The nurse glared at him. "Aren't you going to apologise for him?" she demanded.

"Nope," Gibbs answered as he started the car and sped off towards the office, also ignoring the glare the nurse gave him in his rear-view mirror.

_Boy, was she annoying._

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><p>"Give me something! Anything!" Gibbs barked out as he stormed into the bullpen, Alex hot on his heels.<p>

"Petty Officer Peter Marks," Tony got up and clicked the remote, bringing the Petty Officer's face onto the screen, "born 30th October 1982 to Corporal Harrison Marks and Mrs Lydia Marks. He has one older brother and two older sisters, the brother now studying in law and the sisters both studying in computer forensics. His mother died of cancer three years ago, and his father lives with his sisters. Graduated from Ohio State in 2003, was off the grid for a couple of years before he came back on the grid as a marine in 2009."

"He lives alone," Ziva continued, "and has two homes – one in Quantico, on base, and one off base, where he was attacked. He studied Criminology at Ohio State, and has no criminal record…" She scanned through the information. "That is all I can find."

"McGee!" Gibbs barked.

"I can't get to any security footage from the cameras – they're firewalled."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"But I'll hack into them anyway."

Alex frowned as he watched the agents get back to their work. _Hacking? Wasn't this a federal agency?_

"Alex," Gibbs called out, "with me. Now."

Alex nodded and hurriedly followed Gibbs into the elevator, only just noticing when the older agent pressed the button for one of the basement floors.

"Where are we going?" he asked, leaning against the back of the elevator.

"To see a friend."

Alex frowned. He didn't like where this was going. "And your friend's profession is…?"

The elevator dinged, signaling its arrival. "Autopsy."

"Autopsy?" Alex's eyes widened. "I'm not going to die _now_, am I?"

Gibbs chuckled and shook his head. "No. I just need to talk to him for a moment." He stepped off the elevator and headed down the corridor to the autopsy room, where he was sure Ducky and Palmer would be.

Alex followed him quickly, trying to keep up. The man was one fast walker. "What do you need to talk to him about?"

"Just stuff." Gibbs walked into the autopsy room, barely registering the fact that the doors had opened for him quite a while before – as if they were expecting him. "Hey, Duck."

Alex followed Gibbs into the autopsy room. It was cold in here – the walls were white, but the floor was a kind-of blue colour. Along one wall stood a group of silvery metal cabinets with a desk next to it, and along the opposite wall there stood a large washing sink with a large panel for viewing x-rays beside it. At the back of the room there was a door leading to the main study, or the autopsy office. And in the middle of the room, in organized rows, stood six metal tables, five of them bare and one of them currently occupied with medical equipment around it. Alex paled when he realized what was on the table. A dead body…

A man in a blue suit with a small mouth mask on his face and gloves on his hands walked into the room. "Jethro? You know I haven't got any more results…" His eyes widened when he saw Alex's pale face. "Jethro! Mr Palmer, cover up the body, now!"

The other man – someone who was considerably skinnier than both Gibbs and 'Ducky' – covered the body with a tarpaulin sheet.

Gibbs turned to Alex and, upon seeing his pale face, immediately grabbed a bucket. "You think you're going to be sick?"

Alex shook his head. "I… I don't think so…" He took deep breaths.

Ducky turned on Gibbs. "How could you bring a child down here to autopsy?" he scolded.

"I thought you'd put the body away." Gibbs put the bucket down. "Anyway, I came here to talk to you about Alex."

"What about me?" Alex asked, his face slowly returning to its usual slight tan.

"Ah…" Ducky turned to Alex and held his hand out. "Hello, my dear lad. You must be Alex. I am Doctor Mallard, but everyone calls me Ducky."

Alex nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Ducky." He smiled. "I must be hard being named after a cartoon duck, isn't it?"

Ducky chuckled. "Oh it becomes the norm after a while." He moved Alex to sit on one of the cold tables.

"There hasn't been a body on here recently, has there?" Alex asked.

Ducky shook his head. "Don't worry, lad. The table's been sterilized." He pulled off his gloves. "Now, I hear you have some short-term amnesia."

Alex nodded. "Yes."

"Do you have any recollection of the events at all?" Ducky asked.

Alex frowned. "I only remember up to when I was going out with my sister, Sabina…"

Ducky nodded. "And do you remember anything about Petty Officer Marks?"

Alex looked up at him sharply. "Of course!"

Ducky nodded. "Alright then – what do you remember?"

"He has a brother and two sisters, lives off base when he's off duty, and after he graduated he…" Alex frowned. There was a piece that he knew should fit in that empty space perfectly, but he just couldn't remember it. Yet, he knew that he knew…

Ducky raised an eyebrow. "'He'…?"

Alex closed his eyes as he tried to remember so desperately. It was important – he knew it was important – but he just couldn't reach it… He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes quickly.

Ducky smiled sadly at him. "Don't strain yourself, dear boy. Just relax."

"But I know this is important!" Alex exclaimed. "I just have to—"

"Alex!" Gibbs barked.

Alex's head swiveled to face Gibbs'. "Yes?"

"Quit it." He walked over to him and pulled him off the table. "We don't want you to strain yourself before you regain your memories."

Alex nodded. "Uh… alright." He followed Gibbs into the elevator. "Where are we going now?"

"See you later, Duck!" Gibbs called out as he entered the elevator. He turned to Alex as he pressed the button. "I want you to meet someone."

Alex frowned. "Why? You'd only want me to meet someone if you needed me to trust them…" He stared at Gibbs. "Who is this person, and what do they want with me?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes at the boy's dramatics. "I just need you to stay with someone whilst we continue with the case."

Alex nodded. "Alright. Who is this person?"

The elevator dinged, signaling its arrival, and Gibbs and Alex walked out of the elevator and down the corridor to a room where music was blasting out from a set of I-Pod speakers. Alex covered his ears to protect his ears. _What on earth…?_

"Abby!" Gibbs yelled out.

A flurry of black, red and white rushed over to the I-Pod and turned it off, leaving the room in complete silence. "Sorry, Gibbs."

Gibbs sighed. "Alex, this is Abby."

Alex looked at the woman. She had black hair tied back into pigtails and green-grey eyes, and wore a black and white skull bones t-shirt with a black and red pleated mini-skirt and a pair of black platform boots. On top of that, she wore a white lab coat, and Alex could just about see the tattoo on her neck. "Uh… hi," he greeted. His greeting was met with a fierce hug. He looked to Gibbs for help, who had only smirked.

"Glad to see you're both acquainted," Gibbs muttered before walking out of the lab.

Alex just stared helplessly after the senior field agent. "Gibbs?"

"I'll be back to pick you up later on."

Alex just stared after the silver-haired agent before turning back to the matter at hand. He was meant to make friends with this… Goth lady? "Uh… hi?"

The lady stepped back from him. "It's so nice to meet you!" She hugged him again. "I'm Abby!" She stepped back from him. "You remind me of someone…"

Alex cocked his head. "Do I?" He didn't think there were many people like him.

Abby nodded. "Yeah! His name's Andy…" She looked over at her computer. "Oh! Results are done!" She ran over to check everything.

Alex looked around the lab curiously. He had never really been around all of this scientific equipment before, and Smithers' lab didn't really count. It was quite fascinating, actually. He'd never been into forensics that much before…

"Who's Andy?" Alex suddenly asked, curiously.

Abby looked over from where she was drinking her drink – a Caf-Pow! – and typing things into her computer. "What?"

"Andy – who is he?"

Abby smiled. "Well, you're staying with bossman, right?"

Alex frowned.

"Gibbs?"

"Oh." Alex nodded.

"Well, you'll meet him then." Abby smiled sweetly at Alex before going back to her computer.

Alex nodded, unsure of what she meant exactly, and walked up to stand next to her and watched what she was doing curiously. "What are you doing?"

Abby jumped. Alex had moved so silently. "Oh my…"

Alex's eyes widened. "I'm sorry…"

"No worries." She smiled. "I'd just learn to walk with noise if you're going to live with Gibbs for the duration of this case."

Alex nodded. It seemed as if he had a lot to learn.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, readers! I finally have your next chapter! Enjoy it!**

* * *

><p>Alex sat in the car silently as it moved swiftly down the streets of Washington DC. There was the occasional tree along the road, and there were a few parks, but the majority of buildings there were homes.<p>

Gibbs sighed. He wasn't used to the quietness in the car when he wasn't alone – usually Jessie talked non-stop, and even Andy talked a bit about sports or questioned him on the case they were currently working on. Of course, Gibbs couldn't tell him everything, but it kept Andy interested to say the least.

So Gibbs was actually quite grateful when he pulled up in front of his home. "We're here."

Alex looked up at the house. It seemed like a nice standard home – not too big, but not too small, with a grassy area at the front on the way to the front door. There was a bike lying on the small grassy area, but obviously none of the neighbours dared touch it. He climbed out of the car. "It's a nice place," he commented.

Gibbs shrugged. "It's decent," he commented as he shut his car door behind him. "Let's head inside."

Alex nodded and followed Gibbs through the front door and into the house. He could see why Gibbs had only said it was 'decent'.

The corridor walls were a cram colour, with the floor being a dark brown wood. There were a couple of pictures up on the wall – none of them with Gibbs in them, Alex noted, surprised – and there were a couple of coat hangers by the door as well. Apart from that, the hallway was empty until the stairs were reached.

Gibbs shut the door behind Alex. "Make yourself at home."

Alex raised an eyebrow at Gibbs before cautiously walking into the living room. The theme in here was the same as the corridor, but there were more pictures hung along the walls and these actually included Gibbs in some of them. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room, with beige coloured couches and a beige armchair surrounding three sides of it – one long side and two short sides. The remaining long side was left to that the TV could be seen, and Alex spotted the X-Box next to it. He sat down on one of the couches.

Gibbs headed into the kitchen. "Want a drink?"

Alex shrugged before nodding. He hadn't had anything to drink since lunch. "Yes, thanks."

Gibbs nodded and retrieved a glass of water from the kitchen before returning to the living room and handing Alex the glass.

Alex smiled at him. "Thanks." He took a large gulp of the water before taking a deep breath. "That was nice and cold."

Gibbs smiled. "Yeah, well it's pretty hot outside."

Alex nodded.

"So, do you remember anything yet?"

Alex frowned. "I… after Sabina and I left the hotel, she dragged me to the shops for a while so that she could get some clothes… and then she suggested we see a movie…" He sighed. "I can't remember anything past that."

Gibbs nodded. "That's fine." He stood up. "Hey, feel free to turn on the TV or something."

Alex cocked his head. "Why? Where'll you be?"

"Down in the basement."

Alex raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. He'd asked to stay with him, after all. "Alright."

"Remote's on the coffee table." And with that, Gibbs headed down.

Alex looked at the coffee table and, sure enough, spotted the black TV remote lying there. He picked it up and pressed a button, turning on the TV. It was set on a movie channel. Alex sighed. He couldn't really be bothered to look for a channel he liked, as he felt so tired, so he just settled on the movie channel and lounged on the sofa. After a few minutes, his eyes slowly dropped closed…

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><p>When Alex opened his eyes, he wasn't sure what he expected to see, but he sure didn't expect the green eyes that were staring down at him. He jumped, accidentally throwing off the blankets that had somehow been draped over him.<p>

The person with green eyes smiled. "Hi!"

Alex took in the fact that the person had curly red hair tied back into a ponytail and freckles all over their face before assuming that the person was a girl. And the person was in Gibbs' house. "Hi," he answered cautiously.

"Who are you?" she asked, her head cocking to the side.

Alex narrowed his eyes slightly at her. "Who are _you_?"

The girl's eyes narrowed at him before she turned to walk out of the room. "Daddy! Why is there a freak in our living room?" she called out.

"I'm not a freak!" Alex argued indignantly. "Gibbs!"

Gibbs sighed as he walked into the living room. "What do you two want?"

"Who is that?" both Alex and the girl asked at once, pointing at each other. They both turned to glare at each other.

Gibbs sighed.

Just then, someone descended the stairs. "Hey, dad, can I go to the shooting range with Alice tonight?" A brunette boy walked into the living room. He had the same green eyes as the girl, and his brunette hair was cut short and spiky, a lot like Alex's friend Tom had it quite a lot of the time, and he looked around just under an inch shorter than Alex himself. He had a firm jaw, and had handsome features much like Alex did himself.

The boy frowned when he observed Alex. When Alex looked down, her realized he was only in the t-shirt and jeans he'd been wearing the day he'd gone out with Sabina. His hoodie was missing…

"Dad, who's this?" the boy asked, turning to Gibbs.

"Andy, Jessie, this is Alex," Gibbs introduced. "Alex, this is my daughter Jessie," he pointed to the little redheaded girl, "and this is Andy," he pointed over to the brunette boy.

Jessie gave a huge grin, and Alex smiled in return, but Andy was watching him warily.

"Dad, you wouldn't just bring a random teenager into the house for no reason," Andy pointed out. "So why is he here?"

Alex looked up. He wanted to see Gibbs' explanation.

"Witness protection," Gibbs stated. "He witnessed a murder."

"Then why doesn't he just tell you who did it?"

"Amnesia," Alex answered.

Andy turned to face him. "What?"

"I have short-term amnesia," Alex explained. "Doctors say it's caused by a traumatic event."

Andy nodded, although he was still suspicious. Alex didn't look like the normal teenager that you'd see anywhere. He was even more built than him, and most of the girls considered Andy very well built for his age. "Alright then. Where's he staying? Your room, dad?"

Alex's eyebrows rose. "Why would I stay in _his_ room?"

Andy shrugged. "We only just managed to convince him to sleep in his own bed again."

"He'll be sharing a room with you, Andy," Gibbs told the boys.

"What?" both boys exclaimed.

"That means one of them will have to use the sleeping bag…" Jessie explained.

"No! I am _not_ using that pink thing you call a sleeping bag!" Andy argued. "No way!"

"Well, Alex can't have the sleeping bag," Jessie pointed out.

"I can't even share a room with him!" Andy pointed out. "I don't even know the guy!"

"He's got a point," Alex agreed. "Maybe I should just stay down here on the couch…?"

"No." Gibbs turned to his son. "Andrew, you're sharing a room."

"No, really, I'm comfortable here," Alex tried to convince Gibbs. "I'll be fine."

Gibbs raised his eyebrow at the two boys. Andy seemed reluctant to share a room with Alex, and Alex seemed just as reluctant to share a room with Andy…

"You're sharing. No arguments."

Andy and Alex both groaned before glaring at each other. This wasn't going to be fun…

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	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, peeps! It's been a while, but revision revision revision...  
>But I've got your next chapter for you! Enjoy!<strong>

* * *

><p>"Right. This is my room."<p>

Alex rolled his eyes as he walked behind Andy and followed him into the room.

It was an average sized room, with a single bed in the far corner against the wall and a desk to the right. Both of these pieces of furniture were on either side of the window against the far wall. The theme of the room seemed to be green and brown, with the carpet being brown and the walls being green, and a green and brown army patterned bed sheets. On the desk, there was a pile of papers for homework, as well as a shelf for video games. The chair at the desk was one with wheels, and it had clothes strung all over it. A laptop sat at the computer, which was currently on a web page. On the bedside table stood pictures, some with Andy and Gibbs, some with Andy and a man who looked enough like Andy to be his biological father, and some with a blonde girl.

All in all, it was a cosy, personalized room.

Alex walked over to the pictures and picked up one of the photos with Andy and the girl. "Who's this?"

Andy snatched the photo off him. "Don't touch my stuff."

Alex smirked. "She's really cute, you know."

Any glared at him. "Don't talk about Alice like that."

"Her name's 'Alice'?"

Andy glared at Alex. "Shut up."

Alex shrugged. "Fine." He sat down on Andy's bed.

"Get off my bed."

Alex sighed as he stood up. "Protective much?"

Andy glared at him. "I don't want you anywhere near my things."

Alex rolled his eyes before picking up another photo – this one had Andy, Jessie, and a woman and a man who they both highly resembled. "Are these your parents?"

Andy's eyes saddened a little. "Yeah. What do you care?"

Alex looked over at him. "What happened to them?"

Andy looked away. "That's private information. You don't have the right to know."

Alex's eyes widened slightly before he put down the photo. "Oh. Alright." He looked back over at Andy. "Don't you see them anymore?"

Andy felt a pang in his chest. _Don't you see them anymore? Well, yeah, in my dreams. And they're either happy, or bleeding to death._ "No, not really. They're… they're gone…"

Alex understood. "Oh. Sorry… sorry for asking."

"Never mind." Andy reached into his wardrobe and pulled out a sleeping bag. "I have this if you want to use it instead of the pink one."

Alex gave a small smile and took it. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Andy moved around his room and started moving things to make space for Alex. "I guess it's the least I can do…" He frowned. "Why are you here anyway?"

Alex hesitated. _Should he tell him? What was there to lose?_ "I witnessed a murder."

"Really?" Andy raised an eyebrow at him. "Where are you from?"

"Me? I'm from England," Alex answered. "It's where I was born and raised for fifteen years."

"You must've been raised real tough then," Andy noticed. "You don't look fifteen. You look older."

Alex winced inwardly. _That's what my life does to you_. "Thanks… if that's a compliment."

Andy smirked. "Maybe it was… maybe it wasn't…"

Alex rolled his eyes as he put down his sleeping bag and spread it out for him to lie on. "Make up your mind, idiot."

"Moron." Andy jumped onto his bed. "I still don't like you."

"Yeah yeah," Alex muttered. "I don't feel so happy-go-lucky about you either."

"But we can get along."

Alex raised an eyebrow at Andy. "How?"

"Don't touch my stuff, and stay out of my way. It works."

Alex laughed.

Andy just glared at him. "You think it's funny."

"Yeah."

"Moron."

"Twat."

Andy stared at Alex incredulously. "What did you just call me?"

"Nothing."

"No good piece of crap."

Alex glared at Andy. "Now that was uncalled for."

"So was calling me a twat."

The boys just lay there, glaring at each other, waiting for the other to crack. They sat there for about five minutes before Andy got up.

"I need some fresh air," he said before walking out. "Don't touch my stuff."

Alex rolled his eyes. "It's not as if I'm going to destroy it."

Andy just walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. _That boy was so annoying…_

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><p>"I can't stand him, dad!"<p>

Gibbs sighed as he downed another shot of bourbon. "Weren't you having a fairly civilized conversation with him just five minutes ago?"

"Well… yeah…"

"Then can you attempt to do that for the rest of the case?"

Andy stopped sanding the boat. "Why should I?"

"Because then I can actually have a little peace whilst I have this case in mind."

"But I don't like him. He called me a twat!"

"Well, sometimes you are, Andrew."

Andy glared at his father. "Not funny."

Gibbs chuckled. "Just try to get along with him, at least, Andy?"

Andy sighed. _I really don't want to, but…_ "Fine."

"Good."

The pair continued to work on the boat in silence, the sound of wood being sanded down the only sound being repeated in the room.

"Hey, dad?"

Gibbs paused in his sanding. "Yeah?"

"Can I go out later this week?" Andy asked.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"What, I can't go out with my friends now?"

Gibbs sighed. "You can go."

"Yes!"

"As long as you take Alex with you."

Andy glared at him. "Go ahead, dad. Ruin my life."

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	7. Chapter 7

**Hey readers! It's been a while, I know, but I have the next chapter for you! It isn't much... but I hope you like it! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Hey Jess."<p>

Jessie looked up from her game on her 3DS. "Hey, Andy." She looked back down at her game. "I thought you would go out…"

Andy shrugged as he walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. "Maybe… I don't feel like it now."

"Why not?"

"Because dad says I have to take Alex with me." He closed the fridge and turned to see if there was anything in the cupboards before jumping out of his skin. "Shit!"

Alex just stood there, staring at him. "What?"

"What the…" Andy glared at him. "How…"

Alex raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Andy just glared at him. "How did you get there so fast? How did I not hear you?" He frowned. "What the hell are you?"

"Human," Alex replied. "Contrary to your beliefs. And to be honest, I just walked in here. I was feeling a little peckish."

Andy just continued to glare.

"Well, aren't you going to get me something to eat?"

"What am I, your servant?"

Alex cracked a smile. "Alright, so you're not shocked speechless." He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "I'm not even that hungry anyway. Just thirsty."

"Good. I wasn't going to make you anything anyway." Andy grabbed a packet of biscuits out of the cupboard behind Alex's head and headed out of the kitchen and into the living room to sit on the sofa next to Jessie.

Alex followed him. "So, am I the cause of all of your negative decisions?"

Andy paused halfway through eating a biscuit. "What?"

Alex sat on the other side of the sofa, nearer to where Jessie sat. "I mean, you aren't going out with your friends because you have to take me along, right?"

Andy glared at him. "No."

"But that's what I heard you tell Jessica."

Jessie glared at him. "It's Jessie. Only my dad calls me Jessica."

"Sorry, Jessie," Alex apologized. He turned back to Andy. "I heard you tell her, Andy. Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying to you!" Andy argued.

"I'm used to it," Alex sighed. "Don't bother." He got up. "You don't have to take me. Just drop me off somewhere, and I'll find my way back." He headed up to Andy's room to lie down.

Andy just stared after him, feeling a pang of guilt. _He was used to it?_ How had this guy lived his life? He turned to see Jessie glaring at him. "What?"

"You hurt Alex's feelings, Andy," Jessie pointed out. "That's mean."

Andy glared back. "Mind your own business." He ate one of his biscuits quietly. Maybe Jessie was right…

* * *

><p>Andy quietly zipped up his dark hoodie, pulling up the hood as he did so. He really didn't want to be seen as he left the house. He grabbed his phone, which was purposefully on silent, and his keys quietly from his desk. He didn't want to wake anyone. He looked down to Alex's peaceful sleeping form. The other teenage boy's blonde hair was splayed across the pillow as he breathed in and out slowly, his face soft as he rested. Andy stared at him.<p>

Alex looked _too_ peaceful for a guy who'd recently witnessed a murder.

Andy shook his head as he tiptoed out of his room and into the corridor, shutting his bedroom door quietly before tiptoeing over to the stairs. He smiled slightly when he realized his dad's bedroom door was shut. _So the old man's asleep?_ He walked quietly over to the stairs, not wanting to wake the old guy up. He grinned. _Nearly home free…_

He quietly descended the stairs, grinning the whole time. _I'm nearly there…_ He landed on the ground floor and gave a sigh of relief.

"Couldn't sleep?"

He jumped and turned to see his dad sitting in the living room, drinking a mug of coffee. He just stared at him. _What the…_

Gibbs looked up at him. "You look dressed. Strange way to sleep, Andrew."

"Uh…"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Planning on going out?"

"Uh…" Andy bit his lip. _Busted._

Gibbs just shook his head at his son. _He has a lot to learn…_ "Upstairs. Bed. Now. It's 2 a.m."

Andy pouted. "But… oh, come on!" He turned around and headed straight back upstairs. "This sucks!" He made sure to stamp on the stairs as he went up, not caring who he woke up. He opened his bedroom door and quickly pulled his clothes off before getting his pyjamas on and climbing into bed. He sighed.

"Got caught, huh?"

He jumped and sat up when he heard the voice. He frowned. "You're awake?"

Alex opened one eye and stared at Andy. "You woke me up, idiot." He rubbed his eyes and sat up fully. "Your dad stopped you from going out?"

Andy nodded. "Not fair…"

"Good." Alex lay back down and turned to face away from him. "You suck at stealth anyway. I'd be shocked if he didn't catch you."

Andy glared at him. "Says you! Who are you to say I'm no good at stealth anyway?"

Alex smirked as his eyes closed. "You'll see…"

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, readers! Here's your next chapter! I hope you enjo****y it!**

* * *

><p>"<em>Alex! Get back here!"<em>

_Alex hid behind a nearby plant, hoping not to be seen. He didn't want to go. He couldn't go. It would be torture. No, no, no, no, no._

"_Alex! Where are you? ALEX!" A girl was walking around the hotel lobby, calling out his name. She had long dark hair tied back into a ponytail and bright blue eyes, and freckles dotted her pretty face. She was wearing a white t-shirt with a pink Nike hoodie, and pair of blue jeans and a pair of white converse._

_He heaved a sigh of relief when he watched her exit the room to search for him somewhere else. "That was close…"_

"_What was close, Alex?"_

_Alex jumped and span to see her standing behind him. He frowned. How on earth… "How did you get there so fast?"_

_Sabina smiled and tapped her nose. "It's a secret." She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "Now, come on – you promised to go shopping with me once we got to DC."_

_Alex groaned. "But I don't want to!"_

"_You promised. Now keep it."_

_Alex sighed. "Fine." He got up and followed Sabina out of the hotel and into the street…_

"Yo, blondie."

Alex opened his eyes to see a pair of green ones staring at him, bored. "What?" he asked, sitting up on the sleeping bed that had been laid on the floor for him to sleep on, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He looked at the clock – it was only 8 a.m.

"Dad says you should wake up for breakfast," Andy explained, standing at his bedroom door. He was dressed already, wearing a pair of grey shorts with a green t-shirt and trainers. His short hair was done up to look spiky, although his fringe had been left untouched. "He's making breakfast bagels."

Alex shrugged and lay back down on the bed. "I'm not hungry, so I'll pass on breakfast."

"Suit yourself." Andy left the room, leaving Alex on his own, and headed downstairs. When he got downstairs, he was met with an ice-cold glare. "What?"

"Where's Alex?" Gibbs demanded.

"He's not hungry," Andy answered, reaching out to grab a breakfast bagel from the top of the pile that was left on the counter by the stove. He pulled his hand back when he felt a slap on the back of his head. "Ow!"

"Give him something to eat," Gibbs demanded, handing him a plate with about five or so bagels on it. "He needs to eat."

"No he doesn't," Andy argued. "How would you know?"

"I feed you, don't I?"

Andy sighed. "Fine." He grabbed the plate and stormed upstairs to Alex. "He'll eat." As soon as he walked into his bedroom, he dropped the plate onto Alex's stomach, bringing out a sudden gasp from the other boy. "Eat it."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him. For the past two days that he'd been at the Gibbs household, Andy hadn't paid any attention to him apart from the occasional glare for stealing his dad's attention. He'd received an especially fierce glare when he'd helped Jessie complete a game on her 3DS.

So when Andy had walked into the room holding a plate of bagels, it was fair to say that Alex was surprised by the gesture.

"You brought me food?" Alex asked, sitting up on the mattress.

"Don't sound so happy." Andy threw him a bagel. "It's not happening again."

Alex looked at the bagel before shrugging. "Fine." He took a bite out of it. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Ever." Andy walked out of the room with his hands in his pockets, not looking back at the British boy. He sighed as he walked down the stairs. _Why was that boy really here? He'd said he'd witnessed a murder, but his dad wasn't interrogating him for information or anything, and over the past couple of days he'd only been taken into the office once. What gave him the right to come into this house and make himself at home? Why did his father even accept him? He was probably a violent kid – he'd seen the scars on his legs that appeared when he'd borrowed his shorts, and they didn't come from scraping his legs riding a bike…_ Something wasn't right about Alex – he could feel it in his gut.

Andy paused when he realized where he'd ended up and frowned. There was a boat in front of him… he was in the basement? _What?_

"There a problem, Andy?"

Andy's head snapped up and his eyes met the pair of ice-blue ones that belonged to his father. He sighed and shrugged. "I… I don't know."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow before tossing him a sander. "Come on – help me with this."

Andy gave a small smile and joined his father in sanding down the boat he had recently built.

They worked in companionable silence before Gibbs spoke up.

"So, what's on your mind?" he asked the teenage boy.

Andy paused and shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Really?" Gibbs had a gut feeling he knew what exactly was bothering his son. "Is it Alex?"

Andy's head snapped up. "What? No!"

"Andy, I saw the way you reacted yesterday with the game."

Andy's cheeks tinted a light pink. "I have no problems with Alex."

"Don't lie to me."

"Well, what am I supposed to say?" Andy exploded. "That I feel uncomfortable because a random boy just came into our house, settled in, _stole_ my _sister_, and has muscles to rival a gangster's?" He threw down the sander in frustration.

Gibbs glared at Andy. "Pick that up," he said calmly.

Andy just glared back. "No. You don't believe me."

"Believe you about what?"

"Alex isn't a normal kid. There's something suspicious about him."

Gibbs just shook his head. "Andy…"

"See!" Andy just gestured at Gibbs. "You don't believe me!" He turned swiftly and headed over to the stairs.

"Hey!" Gibbs called out. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from this nutty place I call home for a couple of hours!" Andy shot a glare at Gibbs. "I need to clear my head without you or blondie around." As he exited the basement, he slammed the door shut behind him.

Gibbs sighed and rubbed a tired hand over his face. "Alex!"

Alex walked down the stairs. "Yes, Gibbs?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "You been eavesdropping again?"

Alex smirked. "I've been caught again?"

Gibbs just shook his head at the teenage boy. _He has sarcasm to rival Andy's… _"Don't go doing anything stupid to upset Andy," he warned.

Alex shrugged. "I'm not doing anything. He just won't talk to me. At all. And I get bored."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "I have a feeling you and boredom don't go well together."

Alex shrugged. "We generally don't."

Gibbs chuckled and shook his head. "I guess that's what happens when you don't get out of the house enough. How about you go out?" he suggested.

Alex nodded. He turned and headed upstairs. "I'm going to follow Andy. Don't worry, he'll be safe."

Gibbs sighed. _Those boys are never going to get along…_

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed it! Review!<strong>_  
><em>


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, my dear readers! I finally have your next chapter read****y for you! I hope you like it! Read on!**

* * *

><p>"Got anything?"<p>

McGee shook his head. "No, boss. Abby still hasn't managed to get any prints from the box."

Gibbs sighed.

"Was there anything in the box?" Ziva asked.

"A memory stick, but she's having trouble getting into it so far…"

"Go down and help her," Gibbs demanded. "We need to get into that memory chip."

McGee nodded and got up to help Abby down in the lab.

"DiNozzo! What you got?" Gibbs called out.

"Can't find any more information on the petty officer, boss," Tony said. "But—"

"_Dad_!"

Gibbs sighed and pressed his fingers to his temples. He really didn't want to deal with this. _Not now…_ He span to see two teenage boys walking into the bullpen – the same teenage boys that were currently living in his house. "What, Andrew? I'm busy!"

Andy stopped right in front of his father. "You let Alex use my PSVita?"

"Andy, it's a little game thing. He was bored—"

"No, dad. That PSVita is _mine_. It's off limits to everyone else. _Especially_ him," Andy pointed at Alex, who was standing behind him holding the game console. The blonde boy was smirking.

"Andy," Gibbs sighed. "What's wrong with Alex?"

"He's a _freak_, dad!"

Alex snorted. "Says the guy who keeps toenails in a tin."

Andy turned to glare at Alex. "First my emails, then my _room_?"

"Why? What did he do to your emails?" Tony asked, suddenly interested.

Andy turned to Alex. "Yes, Alex, what _did_ you do? Please, feel free to tell the team."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? I'd rather not."

Andy glared at Alex. "_Tell them_."

Alex just glared back. "Why don't you?"

"_Tell them,_ Alex!"

"If you want them to know so bloody badly, just tell them!"

Andy narrowed his eyes at Alex. "You no good—"

"Hey!" Gibbs barked.

Andy and Alex both jumped visibly, turning to Gibbs.

"Quit it."

Andy pouted slightly. "But I didn't even do anything! Alex was the one who_ hacked into my account_!"

Alex rolled his eyes at Andy. "I was bored, and your password was easy to crack!"

"It was impossible to crack!"

"It was your _date of birth_."

Andy froze. "How the heck do you know my date of birth?"

"You have a passport."

"And how did you get my passport?"

"… I'm naturally curious."

"_Alex!_"

Alex smirked. "That's the first time you've called me by my name."

Gibbs sighed and shook his head. "If you haven't got anything to help us, then leave. Both of you."

"Yes sir," Alex answered. "Oh, and here's your game thingy back," he said as he handed Andy his game console back.

Andy glared at him. "Moron."

"I believe the word is 'idiot'."

"Shut up!"

Tony sighed as he attempted to find something on his computer. "Hey, Alex? Think you can help me out here?"

Alex frowned. "With what?"

"I need to hack into something."

Alex's eyebrow rose. "Don't you get told off for that?"

"They're allowed to," Andy said. "You aren't though. Stay out of my room and you might live to see another day."

Alex rolled his eyes at Andy. "Yeah, yeah." He turned to Tony. "I'll help you." He walked over to Tony's computer. "What do you need help with?"

"I need to get into this account…"

Alex smirked. "Who's this 'Tim McGee'?"

Andy paused before laughing. "You're trying to hack into his account again? After what happened last time?"

"What happened last time?" Alex asked.

"None of your business," Andy snapped.

"I was just asking. No need to be snappy," Alex muttered as he reached forward and tapped a few buttons. "Okay, so what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Just get into his system," Tony said.

Alex nodded and started typing away.

Tony watched and frowned as he watched Alex hack into McGee's system from his computer. "How did you…"

Alex shrugged. "An old friend taught me."

"Do you think they can teach me?"

Alex's face darkened. "No. They're in the past now."

Tony scooted away from Alex slightly. "Okay…"

Gibbs frowned. "Alex?"

"Hmm?" Alex looked up. "Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

Alex nodded quickly. "I'm fine." He pressed a button and stepped away from the laptop. "There. You're in."

Tony nodded. "Where did you learn this?" he asked as he modified some things. "I mean, this friend of your must be a genius…"

Alex looked away. "It's in the past… I don't want to talk about it."

Tony nodded. "Does this have anything to do with you knowing about our Petty Officer?"

Alex's head whipped back around. "What?"

"Well, does it?"

Alex frowned. He could see flashes of the Petty Officer's connection to his past, but… "It doesn't make sense…"

"What doesn't make sense?" Gibbs asked.

Alex shook his head. There was _definitely_ a piece missing. "Nothing. Never mind."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow but didn't question further. "Alright. Leave. Both of you."

Alex nodded and started following Andy out of the bullpen.

"And Andy?"

Andy turned back. "Yeah, dad?"

"You were planning on taking Alex to the park with you, right?"

Andy's face fell. _His one time away from the blonde moron…_ "Yes," he sighed.

Gibbs smirked. "Good. Have fun."

Andy glared at his father before storming out to the elevator. He was really hating this boy now…

* * *

><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's your next chapter, readers! I'm sorry this took so long, but studies have really been taking over now...**

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

><p>Alex sighed as he followed Andy out of the bullpen. "You really don't want me to tag along, do you?"<p>

Andy shrugged. "They're my friends. I haven't hung out alone to them in ages. I mean, that day when I was meant to go out with them I got stuck with you."

"I feel so loved."

"Why feel loved? I barely know you." Andy pressed the down button for the elevator. "And I don't even like you."

Alex rolled his eyes at him. "I don't like you either, Andy, but I'm putting up with you. For now."

Andy leaned against the wall beside the elevator. "So, tell me about yourself, Alex."

Alex shrugged and dug his hands into his jeans pockets, which he was borrowing from Andy against his will. "My name's Alex Rider… I'm an only child… I'm adopted…"

Andy frowned. _He had something in common with this guy?_ "Adopted? You don't look like the type."

Alex shrugged. "I've only recently been adopted."

Andy nodded. He knew adoption could be tough. Especially when your mind continually drifted off to the past… "How recent?"

Alex looked away and put his hands deeper into his pockets. He didn't really want to answer that. His attention was drawn to the list of Public Enemies that was up on the wall. _There are so many evil people out there…_

Andy could tell that Alex wasn't going to answer the question. "So, that recent, huh?"

"Why are you even talking to me?" Alex sighed. "You don't like me anyway."

Andy's eyebrows rose as he continued to lean on the wall. "How do you know?"

Alex rolled his eyes at Andy. "It's not that hard to tell… I mean—" Alex's eyes widened before closing tightly. He gripped his head.

Andy frowned. "Alex? Alex!"

* * *

><p><em>Sabina dragged Alex into a nearby shop. "Come on – the clothes in this shop window look pretty nice."<em>

_Alex sighed as he was pulled into yet another clothing shop. He'd been dragged into shop after shop after shop for the past two or three hours, and now he was exhausted. He'd seen enough pinks and purples to drive him mad now… this was worse than being held captive…_

"_Alex! Look at this!"_

_Alex groaned as he was dragged over to… the men's section? "Sab…"_

"_These shirts will look fabulous on you!" Sabina said before grabbing a handful and dumping them on him._

_Alex just raised an eyebrow at her. He was already carrying all of her other shopping bags…_

"_Go and try them on," she demanded. "I want to see how they look on you."_

_Alex sighed and handed her the shopping bags that were still in his hands before heading off to do as he was told. He quickly switched his clothes in one of the changing rooms before emerging about five minutes later, wearing a pale blue shirt with his jeans. He sighed. "Is this alright?"_

_Sabina smiled. "Gimme a turn."_

_Alex rolled his eyes before spinning for her._

_She grinned. "That looks fabulous on you! Try the others on!"_

"_But there are, like, five others!"_

"_So?"_

_Alex groaned. "I don't want to, Sab…"_

"_You will do it, whether you like it or not."_

_Alex rolled his eyes again before turning around and trudging to one of the changing rooms. She sounded like she could be his mother, and he'd heard Tom's mum talk to him like that enough times to know it was true._

_By the time he had come out wearing the final shirt, which was a pale pink colour, he'd felt like he'd walked up and down a catwalk. "Is this alright?"_

_Sabina nodded. "This is perfect – just like the other five shirts! We're buying this one too!"_

_Alex sighed. "Sab, we can't buy all five…"_

"_Yes we can. Watch me." She grinned and held up a debit card. "I got this for my birthday, and I know I have a lot of cash stored on this thing. We can buy whatever we want!"_

"_Oh goodie…" Alex muttered as he walked back into the changing rooms to change. As he walked in, he spotted a man standing off to the side, wearing a dark coat, with a hat and sunglasses. Alex would have regarded him as any other normal person, but the fact that he was wearing a dark coat on a perfectly sunny day seemed… off… He frowned when he realized he didn't have any clothes and wasn't waiting for any changing rooms either before entering his changing room._

_Suspicious man…_

_When he emerged from the changing rooms a few minutes later, he was surprised to see that the man wasn't standing where he had last seen him. He frowned before taking his clothes over to where Sabina stood, waiting for him._

_Sabina raised an eyebrow at him. "You alright?" she asked._

_Alex nodded distractedly. "Yeah, fine. Just peachy."_

_Sabina noticed how distracted he was and frowned. "No you're not. What's going on, Alex?"_

_Alex was about to answer when he spotted the man in the coat standing over by a set of racks for hats and glasses. He frowned again and watched as the man stared directly at him._

_Sabina frowned and turned to look where Alex was staring. "What is it, Alex?"_

"_The man…" he muttered, turning to her._

_Sabina frowned. "What man?" She sighed. "Alex, you're seeing things. Just like in your nightmares."_

"_But I think this is real, Sabina…" he said._

_Sabina shook her head. "There's nothing there, Alex. You're seeing things."_

_Alex looked over at where the man had been standing… only to find it empty. He gaped. "B-b-but…"_

"_But nothing, Alex," Sabina said. "You've got to get over your fears of someone constantly chasing you. Remember what happened with that guy at the park?"_

_Vague memories of tackling a random stranger popped into his head. "That was a one off! This one's real!"_

"_It's not, Alex. We both know that." She put the back of her hand to his forehead. "Maybe the heat's getting to you…"_

_Alex swatted her hand away. "I'm perfectly fine." He sighed. "Let's just pay for the stuff and go."_

_Sabina nodded. She knew how hard Alex was taking it – only moving to America two months before for reasons she knew he definitely would not be prepared to discuss for a long long while – and she knew that in order for him to get better, she had to play it safe. "Sure." She led him over to the tills and headed straight for the available till._

_Alex sighed and followed her, a sulk on his face. He couldn't believe it. She didn't believe him. Sure, he'd seen some weird things before, but he was actually convinced this one was real. As he stood beside her, watching as she paid for the items, something caught his eye. He looked up and saw the man standing outside the window, and his eyes widened. Something about him… "I… I need to go toilet, Sab," he whispered to Sabina quickly. "Don't wait up for me. I'll meet you back at the hotel."_

_Sabina frowned as she watched Alex walk off. "…Okay. Meet me back at the hotel, then."_

_Alex nodded and headed off in the direction of the toilets. As soon as he was sure Sabina wasn't watching, he switched direction and headed straight for the door, opening it and heading straight outside. He looked over to where he saw the man and saw him walking away from the shop. Alex followed him, dodging in and out of the various shoppers walking around._

_He'd been following him straight down the high street for a little while before the man suddenly turned left into an alleyway and he followed, ignoring the shouts he received after he ended up walking into someone and crossing the paths of others. Alex followed quietly, wincing at the loud footsteps he made whilst walking through the virtually empty alleyway. He watched as the man made a right down another exit and followed him, hoping that they neared some sort of destination soon. He was getting rather hungry…_

_When he went through the exit, he froze._

_Three men, all in black suits, stood in front of him, guns pointing at his face. Behind them stood the man in the coat. Not long after, more men with guns surrounded him, blocking off his only exit. Alex slid into a defensive stance, ready to fight, when the man took his coat off. Alex's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he realized who it was._

"_W-Walker…" he muttered. "B-b-but…"_

_Walker smirked. "But what?"_

"_B-b-but… you should be in jail…" Alex said._

_Walker laughed. "Obviously, I am not, as you can see."_

"_What do you want with me?" Alex demanded._

"_I, Alex Rider, want revenge." He grinned. "I shall avenge SCORPIA."_

_Alex frowned. "Shit."_

* * *

><p>"Alex? Alex!"<p>

Alex took sharp shallow breaths as he attempted to calm himself down after the flashback. It had hit him so hard… now he had a bit of a headache…

Gibbs knelt down beside him. "Hey, Alex, breathe. Just breathe."

Alex nodded and did as he was told, his breathing gradually slowing down and returning to normal. He gave Gibbs a small smile. "Th-thanks."

Gibbs nodded. "Are you alright, Alex?"

Alex gave a small nod. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You can stay in the office instead."

Alex sighed. "As I said before, I'm—" He yelped as the elevator doors opened and he fell back, landing in front of the people standing in there. He laughed nervously as he looked up at them. "Hi…"

Andy laughed, although he quickly shut up when he was met with Gibbs' glare. "So… we're still going out, right?" Andy asked.

Alex nodded. "Yeah." He slid out of the way of the other people in the elevator before moving back to that he was sitting against the back wall. "Come on."

Andy looked at his dad and smiled. "See you, dad." He stepped into the elevator and waved as the doors closed. When the doors finally closed, he flipped the emergency switch.

Alex stared up at him. "You sure you're allowed to do that?"

Andy just sat down beside him. "What was that all about?" he demanded.

"What?" Alex asked.

"The meltdown. What was it all about?"

"It was nothing."

"Don't lie, Alex."

"Since when did you start caring?" Alex snapped. "All you've done since I got here is scowl at and mock me! You've been a selfish twat this whole time!" He leaned forward and flipped the emergency switch, ending the conversation.

Andy sat against the wall to Alex's left, feeling extremely guilty. Alex was right – he had been mean to him ever since he had arrived… "I'm sorry."

Alex snorted. "Don't bother. It's not as if you mean it anyway."

Andy narrowed his eyes at Alex's response. "Ungrateful moron." He stood up as the doors opened. "Get moving, idiot."

Alex just glared back before getting up. "Do I look like a moron to you?" he asked as he walked out.

Andy just smirked. "Should I answer that?" he asked as he followed him out.

* * *

><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's your next chapter, my readers! I hope you enjoy it! Read ahead!**

* * *

><p>Alex sighed as he watched the white clouds float through the sky. He hadn't relaxed like this in ages. He hadn't been able to relax like this since… <em>England<em>… _with Jack_… He felt tears start to well up in his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. He didn't want anyone to see him looking this weak.

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><p>Alice looked over at the blonde boy relaxing on the grass not too far from where the group of friends was sitting. He was handsome, with a slightly darker shade of hair than herself and larger muscles than all the boys in the group put together… including Andy, who worked out regularly.<p>

Ashley smirked at her friend, who was still watching Alex. "Got your eyes on someone new, Alice?"

Alice span back quickly, meeting Andy's glare. "What? No! He just…" She looked back over at the blonde boy. "He looks lonely…"

Andy rolled his eyes. "The stupid moron can _be_ alone for all I care."

All the girls glared at him. "You're a moron!"

Alice resisted the urge to slap him repeatedly around the face. "I can't believe you said that! You're such a jerk, Andy!"

Andy just stared at her. "You're always telling me to say what I feel, so I decided to say how I feel."

"You decided to do that _now_?" Alice demanded. "You moron!"

"That _was_ pretty harsh, Andy," Jon pointed out. "Maybe you should chill with him."

"_Chill_?" Andy asked incredulously. "He's literally just walked into our house, taken over my room and _stolen_ my _family_!" he sneered.

"Well, maybe if you paid more attention to it rather than going out with your friends all the time he wouldn't be 'stealing' it," Terry said. "At least I appreciate mine!"

Andy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, pulling pranks on your sisters and constantly avoiding doing housework is a sure way of showing your love."

* * *

><p>Alex sighed and looked over when he heard loud voices traveling over. He rolled his eyes. He could never get any peace when that Andy boy was around. Like earlier, when he pestered him about that flashback…<p>

He frowned. The people the flashback were… vaguely familiar now… He could remember Sabina, though her relation to him was still quite blurry. Those other men though… he definitely knew who they were. Well, at least vaguely. That man in the coat, he recognized.

_Why wasn't he in jail? How was he not arrested? He obviously escaped… but how? And… and why? What is he getting out here that he's obviously not getting in jail? He could get more in jail… right?_

Alex closed his eyes as he attempted to think, a frown growing on his forehead. _What's going on? What am I missing?_

When he heard more shouting, he sighed and sat up, opening his eyes. "Stupid kids," he muttered as he drew his knees up to his chest and continued to think, although he wasn't sure how he was meant to think with all of that noise going on…

* * *

><p>Alice sighed as the boys continued to argue. <em>They're so noisy… and inconsiderate…<em> She glared at Andy. _Especially him… no good jerk…_ "Hey!"

The boys shut up and turned to look at her. "Yeah, what?"

"I don't think arguing is going to help anything," Alice pointed out. She moved to sit in a kneeling position. "If we want to help him, we should invite him over here to hang out with us."

Andy shook his head. "No."

Alice shrugged and stood up. "Well, I'm going to do it if no one else will."

"Alice…"

She headed over to where Alex sat alone.

"Alice! Come back here!" Andy sighed and stood up. "Come on, Al…" He followed her over to Alex.

Alice sat down on the grass beside Alex and pulled her knees up to her chest, as Alex had done. She smiled at him. "Hi!"

Alex looked at her warily. "Uh… hi?"

She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Alice, pleased to meet you!"

Alex shook her hand out of respect. His eyes widened when he heard her name. "You're Alice, Andy's girlfriend?"

Alice nodded.

He gave her a small smile. "I'm Alex, and the pleasure is all mine."

Alice smiled. "I love your accent! You're British?"

Alex nodded. "I was brought up in London."

"Which part of London?"

"Chelsea."

"Oooh, posh."

Andy frowned when he saw Alex starting a conversation with Alice and sighed. _Now he's stealing my friends too._ He walked over to where they sat on the grass.

Alice looked up when she realized there was someone standing above them and sighed. "Andy, what are you doing?"

"I was just wondering when you would come back over," Andy said, shrugging slightly.

"I'm not a baby, Andy," Alice replied. "I can take care of myself. And I'm having a very _civil_ conversation with Alex."

Andy raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Well, why doesn't he come over and have a very civil conversation with the rest of us?"

"Because you didn't want him to."

Andy flinched slightly. "That's not true!"

Alex smirked. "Then why did you tell me to sit all the way over here when we arrived at the park?"

"Shut up!"

Alice and Alex were both smirking. "You're fun to annoy," they said at the same time.

Andy just stared at them. "Don't tell me you're twins. Please don't tell me you're twins."

"We're twins."

Andy face palmed. "Now you're just messing with me."

"We know."

"You know what, why don't you just come and sit with us?" Andy sighed, knowing it was the only way to get Alice to shut up.

Alice smiled triumphantly at her boyfriend before turning to Alex. "Yeah, why don't you come and sit with us?"

Andy mimicked her behind her back, smirking slightly when he heard Alex snort from amusement.

Alex nodded. "Uh, I guess I'll be alright with it… if Andy is…"

Andy raised an eyebrow. "When did you care?"

Alex shrugged.

Alice smiled. "Then come on!" She pulled the blonde boy to his feet as she stood up and dragged him over to where the rest of the group sat, leaving Andy to trudge along behind them.

Alex looked slightly bewildered as he was dragged along – it had been ages since he had someone even touch him like that, and he'd had to try very hard to repress the need to attack Alice once she's grabbed his arm. Of course, he'd jumped, but he'd hoped no one had spotted it. He quietly observed each member of the group as Alice brother them to a stop.

Alice turned to Alex. "Alex, let's introduce you to our friends." She smiled at him before pointing to the tall boy with long black hair and dark eyes that was lying back on the grass, "Derek." She moved on to the girl sitting up beside him reading a magazine, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, "Kate." She then pointed at the boy with light brown hair and green eyes sitting next to her, reading a book, "Peter." She pointed at a black girl sitting beside him, seemingly on her phone, "Ashley." Finally, she pointed at the two boys with blonde hair and green eyes that seemed to be playing _rock, paper, scissors_, "The one with longer hair is Terry, and the one with shorter hair is Jon."

Alex nodded as he quickly stored all of this information. _Boy, this is a lot to learn…_

"Cut him some slack," Andy said as he sat down. "He's recovering from a concussion."

Alex stared at him, slightly shocked that he'd even bothered to _learn_ that piece of information. "How did you…?"

"Tony told me."

"Okay…"

"Sit down," Ashley said absentmindedly.

Alex raised an eyebrow at her before sitting on the grass. "Okay… now what?"

"What should we play?" Kate asked the group in general as she continued to flick through her magazine.

"Truth or dare!" Terry and Jon exclaimed suddenly, looking up from their game. "We should play that!"

Ashley looked up from her phone. "Seriously? With you two? Nuh-uh."

Alex looked around the group. Everyone in this group had a significantly different personality, although they all had something in common. Two faces flashed in his mind when he heard Peter's name – one of a man with red hair and blue eyes smiling at him, and another of the same man with a pale face and unseeing eyes. The second face scared him slightly. _Where have I seen that before…?_

"Awww, come on, Ash…" Derek whined, sitting up properly. "It'll be fun with those two. It always is."

"And we can see how daring Alex is," the twins grinned.

Alex just raised an eyebrow, unfazed. Somehow, those two were very similar to someone he already knew back in England… _Tom_… "I guess I could consider myself pretty daring…"

Terry raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He looked up. "Hang from one of the branches of that tree."

Alex sighed and stood up before climbing up into the tree. "Which branch?" he called down.

Jon smirked. "Go higher!"

Alex climbed a little higher in the tree. "This one?" He pointed to a branch.

"Higher!"

Andy watched with amusement on his face as Jon and Terry got Alex to climb higher and higher into the tree, ignoring the glares that the girls were sending them.

Alex sighed when he reached the top of the tree. "Is this high enough?" he yelled down.

"Yeah!" Jon and Terry called back as they got out their phones to take pictures.

Alex looked down and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing…" he muttered as he hung upside down on one of the branches. The branches up there, he realized, were much thinner than those lower down, meaning that his weight alone would've been able to snap a branch. _These branches are as thin as twigs…_ he looked up, which was actually down, and realized that the twin boys were in fact taking photos and videoing him. He cursed quietly. _Now_ everyone could find him on the internet. He hadn't wanted to be _this_ famous. "Can I come down now?" he asked.

"Just a little longer…" Jon called out.

Alex frowned. "You aren't going to ditch me up here, are you?"

Andy frowned. He knew he was a jerk, but… "Why would we do that?"

"Because…" Alex didn't know how to finish that sentence. _So what if I've been in this position before? So what if last time it happened, I was ditched and I fell out of the tree?_

Alice frowned. "It's happened before, right?"

Alex sighed. "Can I come down, now?"

Terry grinned. "Yeah, dude!"

Alex smiled and climbed down to tree, landing on the grass in a crouched position. "How was that?"

"That was so daring!" Jon exclaimed.

"Even _Andy_ didn't do that!" Terry explained with a grin on his face.

Andy scowled. Okay, so he hadn't been _stupid_ enough to climb that tree and hang upside down from the top branch, mainly because his parents were overseas and if anything happened to him he'd get in big trouble for it. But he did almost every other dare – even that one that nearly got him into trouble with the cops!

"Well, maybe Andy _values_ his life more than others," Alice said, sending small glares at the twins.

The two boys just grinned. "_Sure_ he does…"

"When someone dates someone like you, they'd have to value their life," Derek muttered, earning a punch to the gut from Kate.

Alice glared at him. "I'm not that bad."

"I think you're pretty cool," Alex muttered.

Alice smiled at him. "Thanks."

Andy sighed. "So are we gonna play Truth or Dare or what?"

Jon grinned. "So, Andy, Truth or Dare?"

* * *

><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Hehe, hi readers! So... I know you were all looking forward to the Truth or Dare game that the guys were going to play, but... I'd already written this chapter, and I don't think I was really planning on writing it anyway because I wasn't able to think of enough to put in it. Sorry!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, readers! Read on, and enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"So, how did you find it?"<p>

Alex looked up from where he had been staring at his feet. "Huh?"

Andy rolled his eyes. "How did you find 'Truth or Dare' with my friends?"

Alex shrugged as he leaned back on the bench. "Fun, I guess."

"You guess?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What do you expect me to say? Anything else would make me seem like I'm _stealing_ your friends!"

Andy winced. "Look, about that… I'm sorry, okay?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Andy took a deep breath. "I know I'm breaking one of my dad's infamous rules here, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk. I guess… I guess I'm not really used to living with guys bigger than me…"

Alex chuckled. "Nah, it's alright. I guess you have the right to feel a little threatened."

"So, we're cool?"

Alex stared at Andy. "Did you just ask to be friends with me?"

Andy just stared back. "I asked if you were alright with what I did before."

"Oh, then yeah. I'm 'cool'."

Andy grinned. "You sound so weird saying that, with a British accent, I mean."

Alex smirked. "So you want me to say it with an American accent instead, then?" he asked, switching his accent automatically with a grin on his face.

Andy just stared in shock, his mouth wide open. "How… how did you do that?"

"I've been to the States before," Alex answered, still using the American accent.

Andy just shook his head slowly. "Stop that. You're freaking me out."

"Sure," Alex said, switching back to his usual British accent. "I'm not that used to the American accent anyway. I haven't used it for about a year."

Andy just continued to stare. "What other cool tricks can you do?"

Alex shrugged. He wasn't sure about _cool_ tricks, but… "I'm a black belt in karate."

"What?" Andy frowned. "A _black belt_? How long have you been doing karate for? No, scratch that – show me some moves."

"Seriously?" Alex frowned. No one had ever been interested in his karate before. _No one_.

Andy nodded. "Sure. I guess I could learn a few self defence moves."

"Uh, okay." Alex stood up. "Uh, which ones should I show you first?"

Andy shrugged. "I don't mind. Just… uh… imagine you're fighting someone?"

Alex paled as memories of past missions flashed back into his mind. "I'd rather not imagine that."

"Okay… imagine you're in front of a practice dummy."

Alex sighed. _He's really persistent._ He imagined himself in a training room with a training dummy in front of him, sitting there. He took a deep breath. "Here I go," he muttered before he struck out and started fighting with the air.

Andy watched as Alex performed moves in a constant cycle. _Punch, kick, punch, punch, roundhouse kick, kick, punch, elbow, kick, punch, punch, duck, kick, jump, kick, punch, punch…_

"Woah…" The complex moves were starting to make Andy dizzy. He closed his eyes for a short while before opening them. He frowned.

Alex was still performing the moves, but there was a look in his eyes… something Andy thought he had never seen before… Suddenly, his mind flashed back to those days when his parents had returned from overseas, and he recognized that look.

"Alex!" he called out.

But Alex didn't stop. He continued to fight the air, stuck in his trance.

Andy reached out and grabbed Alex's hand just as he was about to punch, expecting an attack from the other boy. He was surprised when Alex jumped and immediately turned to face him, the look still in his eyes. The look disappeared in a flash, being replaced by emptiness for a couple of moments before they became unreadable. Andy became slightly frightened. "A… Alex?"

Alex looked at Andy with an unreadable expression before pulling his arm out of Andy's grip. "I'm fine."

"What the hell?!" Andy exclaimed. "How could you say that? You're definitely not 'fine'!"

"What did you see?" Alex demanded.

"I mean, I blank out for a second and then you turn into a fighting machine? What the hell, Alex?!"

"What did you see?!" Alex demanded, shaking Andy by the shoulders.

Andy just stared at Alex for a little while before he spoke. "Have… have you ever been in a war, Alex?"

Alex stared at Andy in shock. _What on earth…_ "What?"

"Have you ever been in a war, Alex?" Andy asked again, more clearly. He looked directly into Alex's eyes, his steely look telling the taller blonde that he wanted answers.

Alex sighed and looked away. "I… I can't tell you…"

"And why not?"

"Because…" Alex sighed. "Because I just can't, okay?" he snapped.

Andy just stared at him for a couple of seconds. "Okay." He pulled out of Alex's grip. "I get it. You don't want to talk."

"It's not that! It's just… need to know…" Alex muttered.

Andy nodded. "It's fine with me. Honest." He looked over to the road when he heard a car pulling up. "Here's our ride."

Alex nodded and took a deep breath. He was a little shaken from what happened with Andy, but he could deal with it, right?

* * *

><p>"<em>This way, Mr Rider."<em>

_Alex sighed as he followed the man into the large building. It was fairly modern, with clean white walls and polished floors. The windows in the building were fairly big up to a certain point, where they became significantly smaller. Whether it was to stop people looking in or people from getting out, Alex wasn't sure. You never knew with these guys._

_The man leading Alex into this building was fairly tall, with dark hair and dark eyes, and he wore a dark suit, much like the other men of his profession. He had a pair of dark sunglasses on his forehead, and his shoes were dark and polished._

_Alex, on the other hand, looked like a normal teenager, with his fair hair messy and hanging over his brown eyes. He wore a plain white t-shirt with a blue Chelsea hoodie and a pair of dark jeans. He followed the man with his hands in his pockets. Why was he here? Stupid American government. "How much longer?"_

"_Just keep walking, Mr Rider."_

_Alex sighed and followed the man though the offices, walking past all the desks. Some were occupied, others were empty. One man caught his eye – he was a fairly young man, with red hair and blue eyes that were staring directly at him. Alex narrowed his eyes at him. Something struck him about this man. He was different…_

"_Please keep up, Mr Rider." The man leading Alex continued to walk on._

_The man at the desk waved slightly at them, which only made Alex more suspicious… until he realized he was actually waving at the man walking in front of him. Alex just stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets and continued to follow him._

"_This way, Mr Rider." The leading man turned to an elevator and waited for the teenager to join him before pressing a button. It wasn't long before the elevator arrived, and it was only about ten minutes before the pair arrived at their destination._

_The man knocked on the door in front of them._

"_Enter."_

_The pair entered the room to find a man sitting at a desk. He looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties, with grey hair and a moustache. He smiled warmly at the teenager._

"_Alex!"_

_Alex just gave a small smile and nodded. "Mr Byrne."_

"_Please, call me Joe."_

"_I'd rather not."_

_Joe Byrne sighed and turned to the agent that had led Alex into the building. "Thank you, Agent Wilkins."_

_Agent Wilkins nodded before leaving the room._

_Alex sighed. "Why am I here?"_

"_Mr Rider, if we're not on first name terms, please take a seat." Byrne signaled to the chair in front of him, on the other side of his desk._

_Alex took the seat and sat down casually, slouching in it. "Why am I here?"_

_Byrne leaned forward onto the desk. "I hear from your bosses that you've dealt with Scorpia in previous missions."_

_Alex tensed and sat up straight. "And?"_

"_And… we need your help." Joe sighed. "See, we recently received a… complaint from one of our agents. It was anonymous, of course, but we have a suspicion who it was from. He claims that his partner is a member of the organization."_

_Alex's hands balled into fists on his lap. He wasn't meant to get involved with them. Not again. His breathing became shallow._

_Byrne frowned. "Alex, calm down."_

"_I can't do it."_

_He sighed. "We need you to keep an eye on this guy. That's all. I want you to work as a part of their team."_

"_I told you, I can't do it."_

"_You'll be saving someone's life, Alex."_

_Alex paused._

"_Think about it, Alex. You could be getting one more criminal off the street."_

_Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "How is it going to work? I'm fourteen."_

_Byrne smirked. "You look older."_

* * *

><p>"<em>Agent Marks! Agent Harrison!"<em>

_A redheaded man and a blonde man both looked up from where they had been concentrating on their paperwork to see Joe Byrne walking towards them, a teenage boy walking beside him. "Yes, sir?"_

_Byrne put a hand on Alex's shoulder, ignoring his flinch. "This is my great-nephew, John. He says he wants to learn a little about our work here, so I've decided to leave him with you two. Keep him entertained." He left Alex with them, walking back to his office._

_Alex just stared at the two agents. "Uh, hi."_

_The redhead smiled at him. "So, you're the kid that Wilkins led in?"_

_Alex shrugged. "Yeah."_

"_I'm Agent Marks. My partner here is Agent Harrison." He signaled over to himself and the blonde respectively._

_Harrison nodded at Alex. "Hello."_

_Alex could hear the slight Italian accent in Harrison's voice. "Hi." He looked directly into his eyes and noticed the same slightly steely look in them that he'd seen in… Yassen's…_

_Marks raised an eyebrow at this exchange. "Okay, well, John, you've been brought here to learn about our line of work?"_

_Alex nodded, taking his eyes off Harrison. "Yeah, I guess."_

"_You don't sound very enthusiastic about it."_

"_I'm not. I was dumped here."_

_Marks and Harrison shared a smirk. "Awww… poor little baby was left without his mommy…"_

_Alex glared at them. "Shut up."_

_Marks pinched his cheeks. "Awww…"_

_Harrison laughed at his partner's behaviour. "Come on, Pete. Don't mess with the kid."_

_Alex attempted to pull his face away. "Hey! Quit it!" He pushed Marks away._

_Harrison ruffled Alex's hair. "Don't mind him. Some think he was dropped on the head as a baby."_

"_Hey!"_

_Alex cracked a smile. Maybe being stuck with these guys wasn't going to be too bad…_

* * *

><p>"<em>Who are you really?"<em>

_Alex gasped as he wrapped his arms around his ribcage. That was definitely one broken. He looked up at the man who had just kicked him._

_Harrison glared down at him. "Well, who are you?"_

"_Why do you need to know?" Another boot to the chest._

_Harrison knelt down to Alex's level. "Because I want to know exactly who has been snooping through my things and taking pictures."_

"_I'm John Byrne." Another boot, this one to the stomach. Alex gasped for breath as the wind was forced out of him._

"_Tell me the truth." He pulled out a gun and held the barrel against Alex's neck._

_Alex's eyes widened. "M-m-my name's A-Alex Rider… I was sent to find a Scorpia Agent within the CIA."_

"_Rider…?"_

_Alex nodded as much as he could with the barrel of the gun beneath his chin._

_Harrison pushed the gun further into his neck. "Who sent you?"_

_Alex froze. He didn't want to answer. Either way, someone was going to get killed because of this. MI6 or CIA. Someone would die._

"_Who sent you?" Harrison demanded again, prodding Alex's neck with the gun._

_Alex stayed silent._

_Harrison growled. "Fine." He clicked the safety off the gun. "We'll do it your way…"_

_Alex closed his eyes tightly. So this was it?_

"_ALEX!" Peter Marks burst into the room, gun raised. He spotted the teenage boy lying on the ground… with a gun pointing at his neck. He pointed his gun at Harrison. "Let him go!"_

"_Ah, Pete, Pete, Pete…" Harrison smirked at him. "The goody-two-shoes agent."_

"_Let Alex go," Marks growled, pointing his gun at Harrison and slowly nearing him._

_Harrison laughed. "And why should I do that?"_

"_Because I was the one who sent the anonymous letter."_

_Harrison stared at him in shock for a little while before his face morphed into anger. "Why, you no good…" He aimed his gun at Marks and stood up, walking towards him. "You ruined my mission!"_

_Marks smirked. "And what are you gonna do about it?"_

_Harrison smirked. "What can I do? Well, I can pull this trigger of course."_

_Alex's eyes widened. "No!"_

* * *

><p>"No!" Alex bolted up in bed, sweat pouring down his forehead and mixing with the recently fallen tears. He panted heavily. <em>That was a dream?<em>

Andy quickly rolled over in bed and flipped on his lamp. He was wide awake, considering he'd been fast asleep just minutes before. "A-Alex? Are you alright?"

Alex gripped his hair tightly. He was still hyperventilating, and he couldn't wrap his mind around it. _That dream… that was real once…_

"Alex!"

Alex looked up slowly to see Andy looking down at him, concerned. "Y-y-yes?"

Andy frowned. "Dude, you look like you've just seen a ghost."

Alex cracked a small smile. "I think I've seen worse…"

Andy smiled. "Do you… want to talk about it…?"

Alex shook his head. "I… I don't think so."

"That's fine." Andy yawned. "You want anything to drink?"

Alex took a deep breath. "I think I'll just have some water."

"Sure." Andy jumped off his bed. "I'll be right back." He headed out of his room and downstairs to the kitchen.

Alex took a deep breath.

_What was that dream all about?_

* * *

><p><strong>Review, readers!<strong>_  
><em>


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's your next chapter, readers! I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

><p>"Okay, what've you got now?"<p>

McGee sighed. "Abby hasn't been able to get anything from that box, boss. It had an old flash drive in it, but we're unable to access it. It's thoroughly locked up."

Gibbs sighed before turning to his two other agents.

"We're unable to get anything about the Petty Officer," Ziva explained. "Everything either does not exist anymore or is unable to be accessed with our level of clearance."

Gibbs sighed. "Hack."

"That's what we've been doing," Tony said. "It's not working. We can't get in."

Gibbs sighed. "Give me something! Anything!"

"Hey, dad, we brought you food!"

Tony and McGee sniggered as Andy and Alex walked in with grins on their faces, holding bags of Chinese.

Gibbs rolled his eyes at them. Ever since that day Andy had taken Alex to the park to meet his friends, the two had actually _become_ friends. Meaning that they were hanging out with each other almost all the time, and made it a habit to work together to annoy people.

More specifically, _Gibbs_.

Alex smirked. "You _did_ tell us to give you something, Gibbs."

Andy nodded. "So we brought you food. Chinese for all!"

"Yes!" Tony cheered, getting up to grab the food. "I'm so hungry!"

"Not until we get something," Gibbs interrupted. He turned to the boys. "Put the food away."

"But we don't have anywhere to put it," Andy pointed out.

"Well, we could eat it…" Alex suggested.

Tony just stared at them wide-eyed before he and McGee both turned quickly back to the case, hoping to find anything that would help them so that they could have their lunch. Ziva just rolled her eyes at the men before continuing on her search for information.

Gibbs smiled at the boys and shook his head. "Manipulative as hell, you two are."

Andy just grinned. "You know me so well."

Alex, however, had become distracted by the photos that were up on the flat screen on the wall between the two male agents' desks. He frowned.

Two photos of Petty Officer Peter Marks were up on the screen – one of the man as a Petty Officer in the marines, and another of him post mortem. In both photos, Alex recognized the bright red hair from his dreams, but the eyes in the post mortem were dull compared to the ones he'd seen, and the Petty Officer ones looked… hard. Even though they were all the same colour.

Suddenly, Alex felt another flashback…

* * *

><p><em>Agent Marks…<em>

…_Peter Marks…_

…_good agent…_

"_Alex Rider?"_

_Alex looked up to see Joe Byrne walking towards him, a grave look on his face. "Yes, sir?"_

_The graying man did nothing to hide his grief as he sat down beside the teen, who had bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep. "I'm sorry."_

_Alex looked away from the older man. "It's my fault, not yours. I… I grew attached, and I…" He closed his eyes to prevent himself from crying. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't…_

"_Mr Rider?"_

_Alex looked up to see a nurse standing in front of him, and he sat up straight. "Yes, ma'am?"_

"_I'm sorry. We couldn't save Agent Harrison – his injuries were too severe."_

"_What about Agent Marks?" he demanded. "What happened to him?"_

"_Agent Marks survived, but it's unlikely that he'll be able to work in the CIA again…"_

_Alex frowned. "Why?" he asked._

"_He quit," Byrne said quietly._

_Alex's head snapped over to face him. "What?" He frowned. "Why? Why would he leave the CIA? Is he planning on leaving the country or something?"_

_Byrne shook his head. "He just quit."_

"_Why?!" Alex stood up. "Why is he leaving, Byrne!"_

"_Because he chose to!" Byrne snapped. "I don't have a choice about what my agents decide to do with their lives, okay? If they work for me, fine, they work. If they don't, they don't. Simple as."_

_The tears started spilling from Alex's eyes, and he sighed. He stood up. "I want to be alone," he muttered as he walked away. He just needed time to think…_

* * *

><p>"<em>Pete?"<em>

_Peter Marks looked up to see a blonde teenage boy standing beside him, his hands in his pockets and his face looking sad and nervous. Peter smiled. "Alex! What's up?"_

"_Where are you going?"_

_Peter looked down to see the packed bags sitting in front of him, filled with clothes and photographs. He sighed. "Away…"_

_Alex's eyes widened. "'Away'?" He frowned. "Where, Pete?"_

_Peter sighed as he closed his last bag. "Somewhere."_

"_Pete…"_

"_Look, Alex, I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now, okay?"_

_Alex looked hurt, but nodded. "O…o-okay, Pete."_

_Marks sighed. "Look, Alex, I'm not mad with you…"_

_Alex nodded. "I know, Pete. It's just… you're going away."_

_Marks frowned. "So are you."_

"_But… there's a high chance we'll never meet again. If you were in the CIA, maybe, but now…"_

_Marks sighed. "Alex, it's my decision. I want to leave."_

"_But where are you going?" Alex asked again. "I want to know…"_

"_Why, Alex?" Marks frowned. "Why do you want to know? Do you want to keep in contact with me or something?"_

_Alex blushed. "I think you're the only other friend I have…"_

_Marks' eyes widened. "Oh…" He smiled at Alex. "Well, how about I give you my address and you come over when you want?"_

_Alex frowned. "Seriously?"_

"_Yeah."_

_Alex smiled. "Sounds cool enough."_

* * *

><p><em>Peter paused when he heard a knock at the door.<em>

"_Anything else, sir?"_

_Peter ignored the voice on the line and walked slowly to the door, getting his gun from its holster on a table by the door, just in case it was some murderer. No one would come to his house at this time of night, especially as he usually lived in Quantico and this was his spare house when he needed to get away from it all._

"_Sir?"_

_Peter placed the phone down on the table by the door before holding his gun out at the door. Should I just shoot through the glass or look at who it is and then shoot? He placed his hand on the doorknob carefully, taking a deep breath, before suddenly twisting it and pulling the door open, pointing the gun at whoever stood there._

_The person stood in front of him froze. "All you could've said was that I'm not wanted here."_

_Peter stared at the person in shock._

_A teenage boy stood on his front porch, soaked to the bone, with a strong jaw line and handsome features. He had deep brown eyes and a tall, muscular figure – he was probably around 6ft tall, give or take a couple of inches. He wore a dark blue hoodie with the hood up so that his hair wasn't visible, and a pair of dark jeans with a pair of Nike trainers. That wasn't what unnerved him, though. The features were frighteningly familiar to Peter, like he'd seen him a couple of times before…_

_The teenage boy pulled back the hood he was wearing, revealing a mop of blonde hair that hung down to his ears with his fringe in his eyes, and Peter nearly gasped. He knew where he'd seen the boy before._

"_A…Alex? Alex Rider?"_

_Alex smiled. "I see you still remember me, then."_

_Peter picked up the phone. "Uh, that'll be all, thanks."_

_Peter smiled. "Thank you." He hadn't bothered about telling them his address – he'd phoned them so many times, they must've remembered it. He ended the call and turned to Alex, who was still standing outside the door, hands in his pockets, soaking in the rain._

"_Uh…"_

"_Aren't you going to invite me in?" Alex smirked._

"_Ok. Your delivery should arrive in about half an hour to an hour, sir."_

_Peter couldn't help but smile. The boy's smile was contagious, after all. "Sure. You need to get out of the rain, anyway." He stepped to the side as the boy walked into his home, leaving a trail of water behind him._

_Alex looked around the place. "Nice place you have here."_

_Peter shut the door and followed Alex into the living room. "Thanks. It's all I could afford."_

_Alex stood in the middle of the living room. "Are you going to put the gun down, then?"_

* * *

><p>"<em>That the delivery guy?" Alex asked as he walked out of the bathroom wearing the new clothes. All of them fit perfectly, apart from the hoodie which was about two sizes too big. To Alex, however, it felt snug. With the extra long sleeves, he felt like a child again.<em>

_Peter shook his head. "No." He turned to face Alex. "Alex, come and sit down. I need to talk to you."_

_Alex frowned and followed Peter into the living room, sitting on the sofa so that his back was facing the window. Peter faced him on the sofa, sitting facing away from the window. There was a short silence before Peter spoke._

"_Alex, why exactly are you here?" he asked._

_Alex tensed. After all his months of spying, it only took one month of relaxing for him to finally drop his spying habits. He cursed inwardly. "Uh…"_

"_Alex…" Peter warned. "I can still take my clothes back and kick you out of the house."_

_Alex sighed. "Well…" But he never got to finish his explanation._

_There was a clink as something cut through the glass window, and Peter gasped in pain before falling off the chair. Alex frowned before he noticed the blood leaking out of his back. He looked up at the window quickly, noticing the small glint of the sniper gun, before turning his attention back to Peter. The Petty Officer was dying. He got down on his knees and quickly turned the Petty Officer onto his front, applying pressure to the wound._

_He didn't notice the pursuer come into the house until it was too late._

_The soft footsteps behind him alerted him to a presence, and he turned quickly to see who it was. He got a glance at his face, but he didn't get to study the person._

_Nor did he get to save the Petty Officer's life._

_Because before he could even comprehend what was happening, he was out cold._

* * *

><p>Alex's eyes widened as the pieces suddenly clicked into place. The fact that they couldn't find any information… the flashbacks… the inability to open the box or get any information from it…<p>

"The box…" he whispered suddenly.

Andy frowned. "What?"

"It makes sense now…" Alex smiled.

McGee frowned. "What makes sense?"

"Alex, what are you on about?" Andy asked.

Alex turned to Ziva and Tony. "Can you guys hack into CIA records?"

The couple frowned. "No… but McGee can…"

McGee frowned. "I think I can…"

"Do it," Alex commanded.

Gibbs frowned. "Alex…"

But Andy saw the hard look in Alex's eyes. "Dad, I think he knows what he's on about." He looked over at the blonde. "Should I do anything?"

"We need the memory stick that they found in the box," Alex told him. "Are we allowed to go down and get it?"

"We can go down there and help Abby get into it," Andy suggested. "I'll take you down there."

Alex nodded and looked over at Gibbs. "I remember now. Those pieces I said that were missing… I just need these records to confirm it."

Gibbs nodded. "Right. I'll come with you."

Andy smiled at his dad. "Great. So it's just us three?"

"Those three can hack the CIA," Alex suggested. "I think McGee will need the help hacking into their database."

Gibbs nodded.

Andy grinned. "To Abigail's lab we go!"

* * *

><p><strong>Review, readers!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's your next chapter, readers! I hope you enjoy it, peeps! Read on!**

* * *

><p>Alex walked into the lab, not expecting the loud music that blared out of the speakers. He covered his ears quickly, trying to protect them as much as he could from becoming deaf. "What the hell?"<p>

Andy covered his ears as well. "Ahhh! Too loud, too loud!" He looked over at Gibbs. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

"ABBY!" Gibbs yelled. "TURN IT OFF!"

Abby turned around from her computer and quickly reached over to turn off the loud music that was blaring out of her speakers. "Sorry guys…"

The trio slowly unplugged their ears and gave her small smiles.

Abby smiled back. "What can I do for you guys, then? Need sweets? Chocolate? High energy drinks?" she asked, holding up her Caf-Pow.

"Uh, Ms Sciuto…" Alex started, causing Abby to blush slightly.

"Abby," Andy corrected automatically, not used to formalities at all around the team.

Alex nodded. "Right, Abby. Do you have the memory stick?" he asked.

Abby frowned before pointing at where it was plugged into her computer. "Yeah, I do, but it's impossible to hack into," she explained as she took a sip of her caffeinated drink. She frowned slightly at Alex. "Why?"

"Alex believes it has some important information on it that would help us with this case," Gibbs explained as the trio walked further into the lab.

Abby frowned before she turned to Alex. "Well, unless you can hack into this annoying little flash drive, I'm afraid it won't be of any use at all to the case." She gave him a sad smile.

Alex sighed, his brain going deep into thought, before his dark eyes lit up slightly. Only slightly. "I think I can…"

Abby frowned. "You can?"

Andy raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You _think_?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but… I could try."

Andy grinned and pushed Alex towards the computer just as Abby grabbed his arm and pulled him over. She quickly opened up the password page for the drive.

"Here you go, Alex."

Alex frowned slightly. "Do you have any password programmes…?" he asked.

Abby opened one up. "Yup."

Alex smiled at her. "Thanks." He cracked his knuckles before taking a deep breath and setting his fingers on the computer keyboard. "Right-y ho… here we go…"

Andy chuckled. "You British morons are weird."

Gibbs frowned at his son. "Andy…"

"So are you American gits," Alex bit back with a grin as he began to type. "Now shut up and let me concentrate, idiot."

* * *

><p>It was about five hours later – making it around six in the evening – before Alex finally managed to get a hit on the password and hack into the system.<p>

The lab was quiet, apart from the continuous tapping on the keyboard and occasional growl or curse when Alex got the password wrong – the tiredness was starting to get to him.

"Can't you try any harder?" Andy groaned as he sat on the stool beside Alex, his head on the desk – or what was available of the desk to put his head on, as Abby always kept that desk cluttered with computer stuff – watching his every move as he attempted to break the password to the flash drive.

Alex gritted his teeth as he continued to tap his fingers on the keyboard keys, trying every password he could possibly think of at this point. "If I try any harder, I swear my brain is going to explode."

"That would be an interesting sight."

Alex stopped and turned to glare at Andy. "You do not know how incredibly _tempting_ it is to smash your nose in right now."

Andy smirked at Alex. "Really?"

Alex turned back to the computer and continued to type. "Yes really. In fact, maybe I should do it right now just to sho—" His eyes widened when the computer suddenly dinged, and a wide grin spread on his face. "I did it."

Andy's eyes widened in shock and slight confusion as he turned to his blonde friend. "What?" he asked.

"I did it, Andy." Alex turned to grin at the other boy. "I got in!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Andy's face broke into a huge grin. "Yeah!" His fist pumped the air. "I bet you're glad you didn't punch me now, aren't you?"

"Shut up."

"Now all we have to do is go through this information…" Alex muttered as he opened up one of the files on the flash drive.

Andy groaned. "More searching? Oh, come on, Alex…"

* * *

><p>"Yeah, Gibbs."<p>

"_We've done it._"

Gibbs paused for a few seconds before he stood from his desk, alerting his three agents. "You've done it?"

"_Yup. We're in. Well, I'm in. Andy did nothing._"

Gibbs heard an indignant cry of, "_I did something!_" In the background, and he chuckled. "Alright, I'll be right down."

"_No, we're on our way up. Stay. Besides, we need to know what the rest of the team found._"

Gibbs nodded, even though he knew Alex couldn't see it. "Alright." He ended the call abruptly and sat back down at his desk. His three agents were still staring at him. "What?" he asked.

"Alex managed to hack into the flash drive?" McGee asked, shocked. "But… how…?"

"Ask him yourself," Tony muttered. "It's not as if we want to know, McNerd."

"_McNerd_? How caring and original…" Alex muttered as he and Andy walked into the bullpen with Abby in tow, the flash drive in their hands. Alex walked straight over to McGee's desk and inserted the flash drive into his computer.

Tony frowned. "I'd like to see you call someone an original name," he muttered, only loud enough for Andy to hear.

He didn't think that Alex had such good hearing.

"I'd rather not," Alex replied. "Calling them the more common insults keeps it fun. Creating your own names in my opinion makes it childish and stupid."

Tony's eyes widened and he blushed lightly. _Now that was just insulting…_

Ziva and McGee had to hide their laughter at Tony's reaction. Neither of them had seen Tony get insulted by a teenager… apart from Andy, of course. And Alice. Alice was always resourceful with her words.

Andy snorted. "Dude, you just got owned."

Tony glared at Andy. "Shut up."

Alex quickly hacked into the flash drive again before bringing up the files he had found on the big screen. "Okay, so here's what I got on the memory stick." He opened one of the documents. "It contains all the details about the Petty Officer's past… including the CIA." He was glad to see that the team wasn't surprised. "So you managed to hack into the CIA, I assume?"

McGee nodded. "The Petty Officer was a previous member of the CIA, and was able to work several missions as a field agent. However, he retired to become a marine…" McGee frowned. "We just don't know why…"

Alex opened one of the files. "I do." He watched as the document came up on the screen large enough for everyone to read. "Peter Marks was a member of the CIA until last year, when there was a problem with his circumstances." Alex took a deep breath. "His partner was a double agent for an enemy organization that prepared assassins."

Gibbs frowned. "What's this organization, then?" he asked.

Alex bit his lip. "Scorpia."

Ziva paled. "You… you cannot be serious…"

Alex nodded.

Tony frowned. "What's going on? Who's this _Scorpia_, and what did they do to our Petty Officer?"

Alex frowned at them. "You… you don't know?"

"Ziva seems to be the only one that knows," McGee pointed out, causing all of the guys to send her a look.

She shrugged. "I was a member of Mossad. It was required that we knew such things."

Gibbs frowned before he turned to Alex. _Then how did he…?_

Alex turned back to the flat screen. "The Petty Officer found out that his partner was, in fact, a Scorpia operative that was working within the CIA in order to bring the company down. An agent from another organization was sent in to confirm this suspicion after he reported it anonymously to his bosses, and the agent managed to confirm it. The double agent was arrested, and the Peter Marks became a marine."

McGee frowned at Alex. "How did you know all that?"

"I read through the information," Alex stated. It wasn't a complete lie… but he didn't want to tell the complete truth. "It told me everything in there."

Tony sighed. "So, what does all of this very valuable information have to do with our case, Alex?" he asked.

Alex looked to Ziva to explain. He didn't want to seem like he knew everything… it would give everything away.

Ziva stepped forward. "As Scorpia are an enemy organization, they would have had something against the CIA. Scorpia stands for Sabotage, Corruption, Intelligence and Assassination." She walked towards the screen. "It seems as if what Petty Officer Marks did may have clicked off—"

"Ticked off," Tony automatically corrected, causing Ziva to send him a glare.

"Alright, he must have _ticked_ off Scorpia," she corrected. "Scorpia does not take to these types of things lightly, so they would have dealt with them in a way they thought appropriate…"

Andy's eyes widened. "Assassination…"

The team was silent, absorbing all of the information that they were being given. _The Petty Officer was assassinated? How were they supposed to solve the case now?_

"We still have to get the guy that ordered him to be killed, don't we?" Tony asked, noticing the determined look that appeared on Gibbs' face.

"Yep."

The team groaned.

* * *

><p>Alex sighed as he walked away from the park, hands in his pockets. <em>They're all idiots. The lot of them. Every single freaking American is an idiot.<em>

It had been about two days since he'd managed to hack into the memory stick – or flash drive, as the Americans called it – and now he was left to hang out with Andy until they managed to get a lead on whoever had ordered the assassination of the Petty Officer and declared Alex safe enough to go back to his parents.

So Alex had decided to tag along with Andy when he said he was going to the park with his friends.

Only to have the most disturbing truth questions delivered to him.

He sulked as he sat on a nearby bench. Andy was his only ride home…

"Alex!"

Alex sighed and turned his head to see Andy jogging up to him. He groaned. "What?" he snapped.

Andy froze. "Look, I'm sorry that Jon and Terry are absolute morons, and I'm sorry that they had the nerve to pry into your private life, alright?"

Alex just continued to scowl. "It's not that… it's just…"

Andy raised an eyebrow. "It's just what?"

"Why didn't you stop them?"

Andy just stared at him. "Alex, I was curious too, you know."

"But why?"

"Because you've told me nothing about your private life."

"Because it's private!"

Andy sighed and joined Alex on the bench. "Alex, how do you expect me to stand for you when I basically know nothing about you myself? I know you have extensive knowledge of hacking, you can fight, you're prone to nightmares… and you've had amnesia recently! Not only that, but you know how the military and the government work better than _I_ do! And I've grown up being accustomed to both!" He looked sharply at Alex. "I barely know anything about you! Not about your life, who your family are, what they're like, your friends…"

Alex understood what he meant. "You mean, because I know everything about you, you think you deserve to know more about me?"

Andy nodded guiltily. "Sorry if I offended you."

"Nah, it's alright." There was a small smile on Alex's face. "I guess I should…" He stood up. "But can we talk on the way home? If there's anyone listening, I only want them to hear snippets. Not the whole story."

Andy frowned. _This is confusing…_ "What if they're following us?"

"I'll know if they are," Alex answered.

Andy sighed and stood up, and the boys began to walk towards the Gibbs residence.

"Andy… there's something really important I need to tell you…" Alex said suddenly as they walked down the street.

Andy raised an eyebrow. "Okay… talk."

"You know the other day when I said I read all of that information off the sheet?" Alex asked.

Andy frowned as he tried to remember, but nodded when he did. "Yeah, I do… what about it?"

"I lied."

"You what?!"

Alex was about to answer when his wrist was suddenly grabbed by a gloved hand. His eyes widened and he spun to face a masked man standing beside him, wearing a plain black outfit. He tensed. _Oh crap…_

Andy's eyes widened when he felt an arm wrap around his waist and another around his mouth. "Shit…" he managed to mutter under the gloves.

Alex struggled to pull himself out of the man's grip, but he was only pulled so that the man had his arms wrapped around him.

He suddenly felt breath against his ear. "Come quietly, boy."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Or else what?"

He was turned to that he was facing Andy. "Or else your friend won't be treated so kindly."

Andy froze in his struggling when he spotted Alex, and they shared a look.

_This whole escape depends on me,_ Alex's eyes seemed to say.

_No, it depends on us, moron,_ Andy's replied before the teen found himself stamping on his captor's foot. Hard. When the captor cried out in pain he loosened his grip on Andy's arms, and Andy took this as his chance to elbow the guy in the ribs.

Alex smirked before breaking out of his captor's grip and punching him hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. He smiled when he stayed down. They were pretty much free…

Until he felt something hit the back of his head, and then he was out cold.

* * *

><p><strong>Review, readers!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's your next chapter, readers! I know you've been waiting for this for a while, but I finally have this chapter done for you! Read on and enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The whole bullpen was filled with the sound of fingers tapping on keyboards and clicking mice when Gibbs walked in. "Ziva!"<p>

Ziva looked up from her computer screen, looking very frustrated. "Yes, Gibbs?" she asked.

"Have you found anything?" he asked.

Ziva shook her head at her boss as she slammed the mouse down furiously on its mouse mat. "I have not managed to find any information at all on Scorpia."

"What about your contacts?" Tony asked from his desk, looking over at her curiously when he heard the loud noise.

"I cannot contact them…" she muttered grumpily. "It would be unwise considering many of our calls are monitored by that annoying little call monitor group downstairs…"

Gibbs pulled out his cell and tossed her his own phone. "Use mine."

Ziva caught it with one hand and smiled. "Thank you, Gibbs." She quickly turned back to her desk and began making calls to her old contacts.

"What about you two?" Gibbs turned to his male agents.

"Nothing so far, Boss," Tony sighed.

"But we're working in it," McGee quickly amended.

Gibbs sighed as he watched his agents work on finding this guy. McGee was going through the CIA's files, searching for the name of the man that had caused the Petty Officer to quit and where the man had disappeared to. Tony was going through the files on the memory stick, seeing if there were any indications of who the man was and what had happened to him. Ziva was making calls to her old contacts to find out as much as she could on the agency that had ordered the Petty Officer's death. Now all he had to do was wait for results…

Just as he was about to go out and get coffee, Ziva stopped him.

"Gibbs, you have a call."

Gibbs frowned and took the phone, his frown deepening when he saw who was calling. He answered the call. "Hey, Jess. What's up?"

* * *

><p>When Alex woke up, the first thing he registered was the fact that it was dark all around him. Of course, his head hurt and he felt slightly dizzy, but he registered darkness first. He groaned softly and tried the move his hands… only to find that they were tied behind his back. Very tightly.<p>

"Alex?"

Alex's eyes widened as he looked around, trying to search for the source of the sound. "Wha… who…?" He frowned. "Andy?"

"Alex, I'm over here."

Alex narrowed his eyes and was surprised to find that they had already adjusted to the dark. He noticed the dark form of Andy lying not too far away from him, his eyes wide open and staring at him. He smiled. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Just a bit of a headache, but yeah," he heard Andy answer. "How about you?"

"I've got a headache as well." Alex attempted to sit up again, only to fall right back because he didn't have any support from his hands. He groaned.

"You're cuffed as well?" Andy asked.

Alex nodded. "Yeah…" He frowned. "Wait, you're cuffed?"

"Yeah." Andy sighed. "So… where are we?"

Alex frowned as his head lay against the floor, hearing a faint rumbling noise against his ear. "I hear rumbling… like a humming."

Andy frowned as he listened quietly. "I do too…" His mind flashed back to the last time he was kidnapped. "Like a vehicle…"

"A vehicle? Like a car?"

"Or a truck."

"Or a van," both boys summarized simultaneously. "A white van." They both smirked before laughing quietly.

"Where do you think we're headed?" Andy asked once they had stopped laughing.

"I have no idea," Alex muttered.

The two were silent for a little while before Andy decided to speak up again.

"Hey, Alex?"

"Hmm?" Alex looked over at Andy.

"How did you know about Scorpia?"

Alex tensed. "I read the file."

"It didn't say in the file," Andy pointed out. "I read it myself. You must've typed it in there when I wasn't looking."

Alex cringed.

"So, how did you know? Did you know the Petty Officer personally? Did he tell you?"

Alex sighed. "I was assigned to the case."

Andy frowned as he thought over what Alex said. "How could you have been assigned to the case? You're fifteen! And by the looks of it, you would've had to be fourteen if you were assigned to that case!"

"I was," Alex muttered.

Andy's eyes widened. "But… how…?"

Suddenly the van stopped, causing both boys to slide slightly across the van floor. Alex winced as his head collided with the wall above him.

"Ow…"

The back doors to the van opened, causing the area where the boys had been kept to suddenly fill with light. Alex and Andy winced as they shut their eyes, not accustomed to the light that was now shining in their eyes.

"Well, well, well. Look at who's awake, boys."

Both boys opened their eyes slowly to spot many men, all clad in black outfits with matching black sunglasses. They were all fairly bulky men, and they all stood with their arms crossed as they stared at the boys.

Alex had to hold back a snort. _They look so cliché…_

Andy, however, didn't bother with politeness. He snorted. "Am I the only person who suddenly feels like an alien fugitive?"

Alex let out a small laugh. "Where's Will Smith when you need him?"

Andy laughed.

The men glared at the boys before grabbing some rope by their feet and pulling, and Alex realized too late that it was rope that had been used to bind their ankles together. He cried out as he was dragged along the floor of the car, feeling the rough metal scratch against his arm. Andy soon followed suit, being pulled out of the van roughly as Alex had been.

Once both boys had been put on their feet, the two guards stepped back. "Move."

Alex frowned. "You want me to hop?"

"Walk."

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible at the moment," Andy said. "I'm a little tied up."

Alex sniggered until he was pushed, causing him to lose his balance and fall flat onto his face, grazing his cheek. "Ow…"

"Have a nice trip?" one of the men asked.

"Oh, ha, ha," Alex said. "Do you want me to go inside, or are you going to leave me here on the pavement?"

Some of the men grabbed him by the arms and hauled him to his feet before dragging the teen over to the warehouse. He could hear some struggling coming from behind him but it wasn't long until he was shoved into the warehouse and left on the floor. The handcuffs were removed, thankfully, but the rope was left on his ankles.

Not long after Andy followed suit, his handcuffs being removed but his ankles left untouched. He groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He yelled obscenities as the men shut the door behind them before he started to undo the rope around his ankles.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Andy…?"

"I don't like this place."

Alex looked around.

It was a large warehouse, with grey walls and a cold concrete floor. There were windows, but they were nearer to the ceiling, which meant they were about five meters high. There were two doors, both of which happened to be on the same side of the room. Only one had a window in it, and Alex assumed that that was the door that led outside.

"Why?" Alex asked. The place didn't seem all that bad… just _huge_.

"I've been here before…" Andy muttered as he untied his ankles. "It… it gives me bad memories…"

Alex frowned but decided not to push him further, instead deciding to untie his ankles as well.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr Rider."

Alex tensed. _Oh no…_

* * *

><p>Gibbs growled as he stormed out of the bullpen and down to the parking garage, pulling out the keys to his Dodge. Tony and Ziva were hot on his heels, with McGee following not too far behind them.<p>

"Boss, are you sure that's what Jessie said?" Tony asked.

"What, you think I'm deaf, DiNozzo?" He opened the door to his car and climbed in, shutting the door quickly behind him.

"No, but Boss…" Tony sighed. "Jessie could be overreacting."

"Well, you never know with Jessie," Ziva pointed out. "Let's go and check anyway. We are going to the park to interview their friends, and McGee and Gibbs are going to the house. Gibbs will call Andy, he will find out where they are, and then everything will be alright."

Tony smiled at her. "Okay, okay. You always know how to make everything better."

Ziva smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "I know."

The couple climbed into the waiting Charger before Tony started the car and headed to the park where he knew Andy usually headed with his friends.

* * *

><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey, readers! It's been a while, huh? About a month... that's how much I've been studying. I've been also getting piles of homework... HUGE piles. But I managed to find space to write some famfics, such as over the weekends when I've finished my homework.**

**Anyway, that's my explanation. I hope you forgive me, and enjoy the next chapter!**

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><p>Alex growled. "Walker… what are you doing here?"<p>

Andy frowned. "You know this guy?" he asked, slightly apprehensive.

Walker just smirked. "Of course I know him. We used to be friends, didn't we Alex?"

"No."

Walker just chuckled. "Well, if that is what you think…"

Andy sighed. "Okay, enough with the catch-up chit-chat," he interrupted. "Why are we here?"

Walker smiled at Andy. "Well, I've invited Alex to visit me so many times—"

"No you haven't," Alex interrupted. "A kidnapping isn't an invitation, Walker. And the amount of times you've held me at gunpoint…"

A look of shock appeared on Andy's face. "Alex…?"

Walker chuckled. "So, I see he doesn't know your little secret?"

Alex ground his teeth. "Why are we here, Walker?"

"I wanted to see my good friend again."

Andy quickly recovered. "But why _here_?"

Walker's eyebrows rose, and he smirked. "What's wrong, Mr Parkson? You don't like this place?"

Andy's eyes narrowed. "I haven't been called that in a year. Don't start it now."

Alex frowned. "Parkson?" He turned to Andy. "Your surname was Parkson?"

"Yeah, it was. Why does that matter?" Andy asked.

Alex frowned, deep in thought. _So he was adopted…?_ "Never mind."

Walker smiled. "Well, it was nice seeing you again Rider, but Scorpia Reformed still has to decide what to do with you and your little friend…"

Andy tensed.

"So, we are going to keep you both in one of our special rooms." Walker grinned. "Is that alright with you, Rider? I mean, considering that you _are_ claustrophobic…"

Alex narrowed his eyes at Walker. "I'll be fine. I've been in enough claustrophobic situations…"

"Good."

Two largely built men walked out of the second door, both wearing dark jeans with dark shirts and black leather jackets. They had guns holstered on their waists as they walked over to the small group, evil grins on their dark faces. They stopped beside the boys.

"Take them away, boys," Walker ordered, smiling as the boys were hauled to their feet and dragged over to the second door.

Alex gritted his teeth as he was dragged along, his legs scraping along the floor. He didn't like this one bit.

* * *

><p>Alice sighed and rolled her eyes at Jon and Terry's immaturity before grabbing some grass and throwing it at them. The two boys wouldn't grow up… <em>at all<em>. It was the whole reason why she'd started throwing grass in the first place.

Stupid grass fight.

It was about five minutes after the grass fight started when a dark blue Charger pulled up not too far from where the group sat, and two NCIS agents stepped out and headed over to the group of teenagers.

Ashley was the first to notice the pair. "Uh… guys?"

The rest of the group turned to see the two agents walking towards them, and Alice tensed.

"Tony? Ziva?"

Tony smiled. "Hey, Al! Long time no see!"

Alice frowned and stood up. "What are you doing here?" she asked, brushing the grass off her clothes.

Ziva looked around and sighed. "They are not here, Tony. Maybe we should call Gibbs…"

Ashley frowned. "Who are you looking for?"

"They're looking for Andy and blondie," Derek pointed out lazily. "Who else would they be looking for?"

Tony frowned. "Yeah, we're looking for Andy and _Alex_. Have you seen them?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah, they left about an hour or so ago. Alex got mad and walked off whilst we were playing Truth or Dare, and Andy followed him. They didn't come back…"

Tony frowned. "They didn't come back?"

"Nope."

Ziva raised an eyebrow at Tony. "Is something wrong?"

"Andy wouldn't just ditch his friends like that," Tony pointed out. "He'd eventually find a way to convince Alex to come back to the group…"

"But Alex doesn't seem to be the type that is easily convinced," Ziva pointed out. "He is a strange child. He seems to be very protective at times… and have you seen his eyes?"

Tony frowned. "No…"

"They are dark, like the eyes of a _warrior_." Ziva suddenly looked suspicious. "There seems to be something he is not telling any of us."

The teens watched the conversation, interested in what the adults were saying. _So Alex was hiding something…?_

"Which way did they go?" Ziva asked, looking directly at Alice.

Alice pointed in the direction she'd last seen the boys go. "Do you need any help?" she asked, hoping her boyfriend was alright.

Tony looked over at Ziva, and the pair shared a knowing glance before nodding at Alice.

Alice smiled and followed the two agents in the direction the boys had gone, looking around for any clues as to where they had disappeared off to.

The trio searched around for about half an hour, unable to find anything valuable or important, until Tony heard a gasp come from Alice. He span quickly. "Alice?"

Alice was shaking. "G-guys… look at what I found…"

Ziva walked over to Alice and her eyes widened at what she saw – Andy's phone. The screen was cracked, as if it had been dropped, but there was nothing else to reveal what had happened to him apart from the fact that Gibbs' number was up on the screen, ready to call.

"Andy was in a rush…" Tony commented.

"…Or kidnapped," Ziva whispered, voicing what they'd all been dreading to hear.

* * *

><p>"Jessie! Jessica!"<p>

The redheaded eight year old girl skipped down the stairs, her curly hair tied back into a ponytail. "Hi, daddy!" She noticed how McGee stood behind him, looking quite awkward. "Where's Andy?"

Gibbs frowned. "He hasn't come home?"

Jessie shook her head. "I thought you were bringing him home…" she admitted quietly as she walked over to him, hugging him tightly. "I've been waiting for him to come home for ages…" she whispered.

Gibbs frowned as he hugged his daughter back. "When did he leave?" he asked.

"About two hours ago…"

Gibbs let go of Jessie and turned to his field agent that had been standing behind him. "McGee, go upstairs and check Andy's room. See if there are any clues as to where he could've gone in there."

McGee nodded. "Sure, Boss." He quickly climbed the stairs and entered Andy's room, beginning to search for any clues as to where the teenage boy was.

Gibbs sighed and turned back to his daughter. "So you haven't seen Andy at all since he left, or kept in contact with him?" he asked again.

Jessie shook her head. "And I haven't heard from Alex either," she admitted quietly.

Gibbs tensed. "Not even Alex…?" he asked, starting to feel nervous.

"No…"

"Boss, I can't find anything up here," McGee called out as he walked out of Andy's room. "There's nothing here to show where Andy could've gone… any details should be on his cell phone. Better yet, we could call him to find out where he is," he suggested as he headed down the stairs.

Gibbs suddenly had a negative feeling in his gut, and he pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Andy's number, hoping that the teenage boy would pick up. The phone continued to ring, and Gibbs was beginning to lose hope when the phone was answered.

"Andrew? Where the hell are you!" he yelled down the phone.

"_Boss?_"

Gibbs frowned. "DiNozzo? What are you doing with Andy's phone?"

"_Boss…_" Tony sighed on the other line. "_How do I say this? Uh…_"

"Spit it out, DiNozzo."

"_The boys have been kidnapped._"

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey, readers! I have your next chapter for you! I hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>Gibbs nearly dropped the phone in shock. "What?"<p>

"_They've been kidnapped, Boss. We've found Andy's phone on the ground, and Alice has managed to find a trace of blood._"

He ran a hand over his face tiredly. "Get a sample of the blood and get it back to Abby. We need to know whose blood it is. It could be either Andy's or Alex's."

"_Boss, we don't have a sample of Alex's blood, do we?_"

"We should. From the crime scene."

"…_Oh… Right. We'll get this down to Abby asap, Boss._" The call ended.

Jessie looked up at her father worriedly. "Dad, what's happened?"

Gibbs sighed. "Your brother has gone and done something, and it's got him in trouble." He dialed Ziva's number.

She picked up on the second ring. "_Yes, Gibbs?_"

"You remember Alex's number?" he asked.

"…_Yes…_" she answered hesitantly after a little while. "_Does he have it?_"

"He always carries his cell. Ring it." He ended the call abruptly, not wanting to hear anything else from his agents. He turned to McGee. "Get down to Abby and get her to track Alex's phone. She needs to know about this."

McGee nodded. "Yes, Boss." He quickly left the house, going out to drive back to headquarters in the company car.

Gibbs sighed. They'd better find those boys soon…

* * *

><p>Alex grunted as he was thrown to the floor of the cell, grazing his arms and legs against the rough concrete. Andy landed right beside him, instead landing on his back and being winded slightly.<p>

"Ow…" Andy groaned as he coughed and tried to roll onto his stomach.

Alex just lay there with his face on the concrete floor, losing all will to move. _How had this happened? How had they managed to find him?_ He bit his lip and tried hard not to cry. There was no way he was going to cry. He was a teenage boy, for goodness' sake!

Andy succeeded in rolling over and looked over to Alex, who seemed to be just laying there. He didn't notice how he was shaking until he crawled closer to him. "Alex?"

"I'm fine," Alex answered thickly.

Andy frowned. "No you're not. What's up?"

"The ceiling."

Andy smirked as he sat up properly. "You know I like your sense of humour, Alex, but you're really going to have to trust me more." He put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Now, come on – tell me. I'm not gonna get all sappy with you, but I do want to know what's wrong."

Alex flinched at Andy's touch and stayed silent for a few more seconds before speaking. "I can't believe they found me…"

Andy frowned. "Who is '_they_'?"

Alex bit his lip before twisting onto his back so that he was looking up at Andy. "Scorpia…"

Andy's eyes widened. "Scorpia? You mean… the guys who killed Petty Officer Marks?"

Alex nodded.

"Why… how do you know them?"

Alex bit his lip and looked over to the cell door. Luckily, no one was listening in to the conversation. He turned back to Andy and sat up fully. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."

Andy made a cross over his heart. "I swear, Alex."

"Not even Gibbs."

"Promise."

"And not even Alice."

Andy cringed. "Okay, not even Alice."

"Or Jessie?"

"Or Jessie."

Alex nodded. "Good." He took a deep breath. "I… I am… I _used to be_ a spy…"

Andy stared at him incredulously and was about to laugh when he noticed the absolutely serious look on Alex's face. "You're… you're not serious…"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Andy noticed the dark look in his eyes, and realized how hollow the brown orbs were. He shivered inside. "How… how did you become a spy, Alex?"

Alex looked away from Andy.

Andy bit his lip. "Is… is this a sore subject, Alex? Because if it is…"

Alex shook his head. "I… I need to tell someone…" He looked back over at Andy. "It all started last year… when my uncle died… He raised me to be a spy. I, obviously, didn't know, so I just went along with it all. When he died… I was told he'd died in a car accident. At his funeral, I met his boss…" He gave a deep sigh. "A couple of days later, I ended up trying to investigate his death, and found bullets in his car door."

Andy's eyes widened. "He was… he was murdered…"

Alex nodded. "On his mission. The agency my uncle worked for – MI6 – wanted me to finish off his mission for them, so they sent me to a training camp for about a week or two and then sent me straight down to Cornwall for my mission…" He bit his lip. "Did you hear about _Herod Sayle_?"

Andy's brows knit together before he nodded. "I… I think so… wanted to give a load of computers to schools all over England?"

Alex nodded. "It turns out that he had inserted viruses into all of the computers – viruses that could actually kill the kids, not computer viruses."

Andy's eyes widened. "And you stopped him?"

"Didn't you hear about the guy who broke through the roof?"

"Wait… that was you?!"

Alex nodded.

Andy was speechless. "How… how did you… how did you do it?"

"Parachute."

"Woah…" Andy frowned. "Wait, that was over a year ago…" He cocked his head to the side curiously. "Has… has anything happened since then?"

"Eight more missions."

"Nine missions in one year?!"

"And a 100% success rate."

Andy just shook his head in disbelief. "Woah… and all for MI6…"

"Not all of them. I did two for the CIA, and one for the ASIS as well. And some of them… some of them, I started off because of my curiousity."

Andy smirked. "Curiousity did kill that cat…"

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, it did."

"So… what happened on those missions?"

He ran a hand through his hair before beginning on the Stormbreaker mission, going into depth about everything that happened, before going on to talk about each of his other missions, making sure not to miss out any details. Andy listened intently, reacting when he was supposed to, and laughing at the occasional witty comment.

When Alex finally reached the final mission in Cairo, Andy didn't fail to notice how tears began to fall down his face. His eyes widened as Alex retold the tale of how Jack, his housekeeper, was killed before he went on to finish the mission, and his fists clenched when he found out how he had been played the Alan Blunt in order to go on the mission.

"I hate him… that bastard!" he exclaimed.

Alex nodded, feeling drained, even though a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. Having the guts to tell Andy the whole story had taken a lot out of him… but one thing was nagging at the back of his mind. "Why don't you like this place?"

Andy's face darkened. "It's a bad memory…"

"Nothing can be as bad as mine, right?"

Andy sighed. "I guess not…" He took a deep breath and went on to tell him about what had happened the year before, with his parents dying and the whole investigation.

Alex cringed when he heard about how Andy's parents had died. He had been lucky enough to be a baby when his parents had died, and they had been blown up in a plane by his godfather. Of course, their demise wasn't any better, but he didn't have the constant memory of watching his parents die stuck in his mind.

Andy's face seemed to brighten slightly when he spoke about his time staying with Gibbs during the case, exaggerating about how the team had been kind and caring towards himself and his sister. His face then darkened when he reached the part where he and Alice got kidnapped from the park, and he stammered when he reached the torture.

Alex noticed how uncomfortable he was. "You don't need to tell me about this…"

Andy shook his head. "No. You told me yours…" He told him more about the torture, and how he was stabbed. He even raised his shirt to show Alex the scar that ran down his right side.

Alex frowned. The jagged scar marred the other boy's chest… "You went to hospital with it?"

Andy nodded. "I… I woke up in hospital with it… with my bandaged chest, I mean. I'd been comatose for a couple of days…"

Alex shook his head slowly. "I know how that feels…"

Andy gave Alex a small smile. "Yeah…" He frowned confusedly. "Am I the only person that feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders?"

Alex shook his head. "I feel it too." He grinned. "I guess it's good for you to tell someone your deepest darkest secrets."

Andy nodded. "I guess it is…" He smiled at Alex. "Thanks, dude."

"No problem, Andy. And… thanks, to you too."

* * *

><p>Gibbs sighed as he walked into the bullpen with his third cup of coffee in the past hour. "What've you got?" he called out.<p>

Ziva sighed. "Gibbs, we do not know how to hack into the CIA's database. Tony and I do not have the experience…"

"Then get McGee," he demanded.

"He's down helping Abby to track Alex's phone," Tony explained.

Gibbs glared at them both. "I need something – anything – that will help me find _my son_ and the other kid!" he roared.

Tony jumped. "Well…" He scratched the back of his head. "We've read through the information that Alex found for us."

"And what did you find?"

"Everything he found," Ziva said, "except for something important…" She brought the folder where the file had been contained up on the screen, and it showed a couple of documents. "This is the folder where the document was kept," she pointed out. She pointed to the document. "And this is the document."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "…And…?"

Ziva pointed at the modification pane. "Gibbs, this file has been modified recently. _Too_ recently." She turned to her boss. "It was modified after the death of the Petty Officer."

Gibbs' eyes widened before his eyes became ice.

"Alex…"

* * *

><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

Tony frowned from where he sat. "What did Alex do?"

"Alex was the one who found the file, right?" Ziva told Tony.

Tony nodded.

"He must have modified it before coming to tell us…"

"But what did he modify?" Tony asked. "It can't have been too bad…"

"Unless it was something personal or private," Ziva pointed out. "And if Andy was there… he would know about it."

Tony paused, thinking for a second. "But if Andy had known something about it, we would have noticed as well."

Ziva frowned. "Are you sure?"

"I think Andy would be more wary around Alex if it was something private. Either that, or he would be trying too hard to act normal."

"So, are you suggesting that Andy does not know?"

"I'm confirming it."

Gibbs sat at his desk, thinking deeply. Alex's behaviour was suspicious. _Too_ suspicious. There was something about him that bothered Gibbs… He pulled out his cell phone and dialled McGee's number, waiting for the younger agent to pick up. "McGee, stop what you're doing. I want you to hack into the CIA…" He gave a deep sigh. "You're looking for _Alex Rider_…"

* * *

><p>Alex sighed as he sat on the concrete floor, bored out of his mind. He and Andy had been there for who-knows-how-long, although he suspected it was a couple of hours or so. He already felt like he needed to get out. The constant walls… they were getting to him now.<p>

"Alex?"

Alex looked over at where Andy lay at the opposite side of the room. "Hmmm?"

Andy looked slightly concerned. "Are you alright? You look a little pale."

Alex took a deep breath, struggling a little as he sighed. "I… I'm feeling a little claustrophobic now…"

Andy nodded and looked around. "Dammit… no windows. I can't think of a way for us to escape."

Alex scanned the room. Andy was right. There were no windows in the room – just a metal door that seemed impossible to get through, as it was locked from the outside. "We'll have to wait for them to open the door…"

Andy sighed. "That's just great… what do we do now?"

"We could discuss more about our personal lives?"

Andy smiled. "Sure, even though I have a feeling you already know about all of mine…"

Alex chuckled. "Despite what you think, I didn't go through everything that was yours. I don't know that much about your life apart from your passwords and what you told me earlier. Oh, and I know about your friends…"

Andy nodded before thinking. "What about your friends, Alex?"

Alex looked away. "I… I don't really have many friends…"

Andy frowned. Alex didn't really look like the friendless type… "So, who _are_ your friends?"

"Well… there's Tom Harris, my best friend and one of my only friends. We've been friends ever since I stopped some bullies from hurting him…" Alex smiled softly. "He's one mischievous guy, though. He hasn't got great grades, but he's brilliant at sports."

Andy smiled. "He sounds like a cool friend…"

"Yeah… and then there's James, who I met at Point Blanc, and he became quite a good friend as well."

Andy nodded. "Anyone else?"

"Well… there's Sabina…"

Andy grinned. "You mean, the girl you kissed?"

Alex blushed. "Yeah, her, the one who's like my sister now."

"What about her?"

"Well, we met a year ago, and ever since then we've been hanging out. At one point, we were dating… but I think our feelings for each other are like that any more." He curled up where he sat, drawing his knees up to his chest. "I do still love her, but more like a sister now than anything else…"

"Ah…"

Alex sighed. "We have nothing to do here apart from talk…"

Andy's stomach grumbled. "And I'm starved…" He looked over at the door. "Are you sure we can't pick the locks from the inside?"

"I'm definitely sure," Alex confirmed. "It's firmly locked. I've been in rooms like this before…"

Andy groaned. "I hate these people already."

* * *

><p>McGee sighed as he sat at his desk, continuing to type. He was frantically attempting to hack into the CIA, searching for the name 'Alex Rider'. So far, nothing was coming up, so McGee was digging deeper and deeper into the CIA's database.<p>

"Found anything yet, Timmy?" Tony asked, walking in with two coffees.

McGee shook his head. "Everything is coming up on a blank so far. I'm trying to get in deeper, but…"

Tony nodded. "It's taking too long. Got it." He placed one of the coffees on McGee's desk.

McGee smiled thank fully at Tony. "Thanks." He took the coffee and sipped on it.

"We need you to find them. Best to do so wide awake."

McGee nodded and went back to his search, trying to find information on Alex.

Tony walked over to his desk and sat down, watching McGee as he typed. There was nothing much that he could do now – there was no point helping McGee hack into the CIA, he was a genius – and he didn't exactly feel like going home. He felt like he needed to be here, until Andy was found.

It wasn't until about three hours later when McGee finally got a hit on what he was looking for.

"I've got it!"

Tony jumped up from where he had fallen asleep at his desk. "Huh?"

"I got in!" McGee cried happily.

Tony looked over at him sleepily before it finally registered. "You... you've got information?"

McGee nodded, a wide grin on his face. "I'm in."

Tony jumped out of his seat and ran over to McGee's desk. "What did you find?"

"A load of classified stuff..." The younger agent paled. "I... I think we need to call Gibbs..."

Tony nodded before pulling out his cell. "Uh, Boss... I think you need to come and see this."

* * *

><p>Alex groaned as he woke from a restless and painful sleep. His neck ached, his back ached, his arms ached. His whole body ached. And it didn't help that he was lying on a concrete floor. He looked over at Andy.<p>

The other teen seemed to be fast asleep, his arms tucked under his head like a pillow. He didn't look at all comfortable, if his facial expression was anything to go by, but he seemed to sleep straight through his discomfort.

Alex turned towards the door when he heard it open, and blinked rapidly at the bright light streaming in.

One of the burly guards stood at the door, holding a tiny tray that held two measly slices of bread and two small bottles of water.

The contrast in size was so great that it cause Alex to snort, which woke Andy from his light sleep.

The guard glared him. "You're in no position to laugh, Rider," he spat.

Alex just glared back.

Andy noticed the tension and sat up, stretching.

The guard walked in and set the food on the floor, eyeing Alex warily as he did so.

Alex just stared back, wanting to make the guard feel nervous.

The guard turned and hastily left.

Once the metal door had shut, Andy crawled over to the tray and picked up one of the pieces of bread. "This is a poor excuse for bread..."

Alex nodded as he picked up his piece. "But this is all we're going to get..." He bit into the bread, grimacing when he realised it was stale.

Andy did the same, nearly choking on his piece. He grabbed his bottle of water and drank some of it, gasping for air when he was done.

Alex gave Andy a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

Andy nodded as he coughed a little. "Just a little dry... and stale..."

Alex nodded. "Yeah..."

The pair finished off the bread before sipping slowly on what was left of their water.

"Do you... do you think we'll get out of here?" Andy asked.

Alex shrugged as he looked over at the door. "I don't know... but I really hope we do."

* * *

><p>Gibbs walked into the bullpen. "What've you got, McGee?"<p>

McGee brought up what he'd found on the screen. "Alexander John Pleasure, born Alexander John Rider. Aged fifteen. Born in Chelsea, London."

Gibbs sighed. "Anything better, McGee?"

McGee scrolled through the document and froze. "Uh, Boss, you're not going to like this..."

"Spill, McGoo," Tony said, sitting on the end of his desk.

"Alex Rider... used to be a spy..."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey, readers! It's been a while, hasn't it? Over a month! So, finally, here's the next chapter.**

**Enjoy it!**

* * *

><p>Gibbs sighed as he sat at his desk, his head in his hands as he rubbed his face tiredly.<p>

It had been about three days since McGee had found out about Alex's 'occupation', and since then they had gotten nothing. Nada. Zilch. The track that they had finally managed to get on Alex's phone led to nowhere – the phone had been ditched on a random road, still intact, but useless. Abby had managed to get into the GPS on the phone, but all it showed was where the boys had been, and there were too many possibilities as to where they would go.

Of course, in all of his worry, Gibbs had not forgotten Jessie. The eight year old was currently staying at a friend's house, although if Gibbs couldn't find the boys by the end of the week he had no choice but to bring Jessie back into the house. And she would be alone. Asking continuous questions. Gibbs groaned.

It was at times like these when he wished that he didn't make promises that there was a possibility he couldn't keep.

"Boss?"

Gibbs looked up to see Tony standing in front of him, a worried look on his face. "Yeah, DiNozzo?"

Tony bit his lip. "You do know we'll find them, right Boss?" he asked.

Gibbs sighed. "Yeah… I just…"

Tony frowned. "You just what, Boss?"

Gibbs took a deep breath. "I just hope it's not too late."

* * *

><p>Alex breathed heavily as his head hung, his dirty blonde hair draped over his eyes like curtains. His eyes were tightly shut as he tried to withstand the pain, and he gripped the chains so tightly that his knuckles were white and the chains were digging into his hands.<p>

Walker chuckled as he stood by Alex, the whip in his hands. "Well, Rider, I believe our fun is over."

"Our fun?" Alex managed to choke out sarcastically.

Walker placed his hand on Alex's back. "Of course, Rider."

Alex whimpered and bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. His back was criss-crossed with whip marks and knife cuts, the blood leaking onto the concrete floor. Some of it had already crusted on his back, his wounds already starting to close up, but they were still extremely painful.

Walker's eyes narrowed slightly as he moved away from Alex. "Take him back," he commanded his soldiers before walking out of the room. He slammed the door shut behind him.

Alex held his breath as he was lifted from his kneeling position on the floor and was dragged by his chain out of the room. He was led down a long network of similar looking grey and silver concrete corridors before he was finally brought to his and Andy's cell and thrown inside carelessly.

Andy's head snapped up when he heard the door open, and he quickly crawled over to Alex, who now lay on the floor.

"Al?" he whispered as the door closed, his voice still hoarse from screaming. He had scratches, burns and cuts all over his body from where he had been tortured for the information. Of course, being the tight-lipped boy he was, Andy didn't give away anything important. It did, however, mean that he was water-boarded, slowly cut with blunt knives, and beaten to a pulp by those idiot guards of Walker's.

Alex groaned as he looked up at Andy. "A… Andy…?"

Andy bit his lip as he looked over Alex's back. It looked so damn painful… "Can you move?"

Alex just lay there. "I probably can. I just don't have the will."

"I was going to tell you not to anyway. Your wounds look really bad, and they need to close up."

Alex just groaned.

Andy knelt beside him. "I really hope we get out of here soon…"

* * *

><p>Gibbs was on the edge now.<p>

They had found nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Zilch.

Nada.

"You can't find anything?" he demanded, glaring at his field agents.

Tony shook his head. "Nothing, Boss. We've searched all over…"

"I've tried searching through all of the cameras, but nothing has come up yet," McGee added, still typing on his computer.

"No BOLOs have returned as of yet," Ziva explained, sitting back in her chair with a sigh.

Gibbs ran a hand over his tired face and looked at the time on his watch.

It was nearing midnight.

"Go home," he commanded.

The other agents frowned. "Wh… what?"

Gibbs looked over at them. "I said go home. It's late."

Tony stared at Gibbs incredulously before laughing.

Gibbs frowned. "What?"

"We haven't been home for four days, Boss."

McGee smirked when he realised what was funny. "There's no point sending us home, Boss. We won't go. We don't want to."

"We will do everything in our power to find those boys, even if it means staying here overnight," Ziva agreed.

Gibbs just blnked.

They were right. The four of them had been in the office working for four days straight, five of them if one included Abby in Forensics. They hadn't slept much in those four days of constant working, and all of them had been motivated to find the boys.

There was no point them going home now.

Gibbs sighed and stood. "I'm going to get some coffee."

"No you are not."

Gibbs glared at Ziva. "What was that?"

The female agent did not back down. "You are going home. We will stay."

Gibbs shook his head. "No. If you stay, I stay. If you go, I go."

Tony stepped closer to Gibbs. "No. Boss, you go home. You need the rest. You've been stressing too much."

Gibbs sighed. There was no point arguing with these agents. They were just too stubborn. Plus, Tony did have a point about him stressing… "Fine." He grabbed his bags and headed for the elevator. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

The younger field agents smiled sympathetically and nodded as they watched their boss leave. "Yes, Boss," they answered as a group. As soon as the elevator doors shut, they got to work.

"I just got a hit on the BOLO," Ziva explained as she slipped round her desk to the computer.

"Send me the hit area," McGee called out as he sped to his computer.

"Can do, McGee."

Tony got his coat and bags ready. "I'm filling the car with gas," he explained. "When you're done, text me the coordinates."

"Got it," McGee said as he and Ziva typed furiously at their computers.

Tony nodded and headed down to the parking garage in the elevator, to where the NCIS cars were kept.

McGee grinned when he got the coordinates from Ziva. "Ziva, that's it! That's the truck!"

Ziva smiled hopefully. "It is?"

"Yes!" He quickly got coordinates from where the truck had last been. "Any more BOLOs? If there are more, we can more or less figure out where the truck was headed."

Ziva nodded and began to look for more BOLOs. "There aren't… oh, wait! I think I have found one!" She quickly sent it to McGee.

McGee nodded and opened it, smiling. "Right, let me join the dots…"

"It is only a loose estimate, am I correct?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Only a loose estimate, but it's better than nothing. Once we get an area, we could ask local residents on whether they've seen the vehicle."

She nodded, understanding what he was saying. "Get an estimate. It is better than nothing."

McGee nodded and quickly got a rough estimate of where the vehicle was estimated. "Okay, it seems as if it was headed to a small residential area just outside of town…" He paled a little. "Oh boy…"

Ziva frowned and stood from her desk, heading over to where McGee was. "What is it?" she asked.

McGee took a deep breath. "Recognise this area?" he asked her as he turned his screen so that she could see it.

Ziva paused before her eyes widened. "Yes…" She looked at McGee. "You do not think…?"

"It's a possibility."

"Then send Tony the coordinates." She headed to her desk to get her bag and coat. "You stay here and keep an eye out for Gibbs – we do not want him getting in the way. I will go with Tony."

McGee nodded. "Alright, then."

Ziva smiled and headed to the elevator. "I shall see you later, McGee."

"See you, Ziva."

* * *

><p>Andy cringed as he felt his arm being twisted further. Any further, and they would dislocate his shoulder…<p>

Then he heard the 'pop'.

And he cried out in pain.

Walker laughed sinisterly. "It seems as if we have broken the Gibbs child, boys…"

The large men in black around him began to laugh, poking and shoving the teenage boy harshly.

Andy just grunted, falling to the ground weakly. He lay there for a few minutes, not moving at all apart from his chest rising and falling.

Walker headed over to the teenager, rolling him over forcefully.

Andy winced, gripping his shoulder and trying desperately not to cry.

Walker just narrowed his eyes at Andy, annoyed by the fact that he had not completely broken the boy yet. "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Andy asked, even though he knew exactly what Walker was talking about. It was the whole reason why he and Alex had been held here for the past week or so.

He wasn't even sure anymore.

Walker just kicked the teenage boy in the ribs, and smiled at the satisfying crack and small whimper he got from the boy. "You know what I'm talking about, Andrew. That is, unless you have a short term memory."

Andy just stared up at him. "Yes, I have a short term memory. I'm really sorry about that."

Walker grinned sinisterly. "Then I suppose we can fix that." He snapped his fingers.

Two of the burly guards pulled Andy to his feet mercilessly, not caring about his dislocated shoulder or his now cracked ribs.

Andy winced, trying desperately not to scream in pain. He was so close to passing out…

The guards dragged him out of the room and down the corridor to another room, where they pulled him forcefully inside and strapped him to a chair.

It was too late when Andy finally realised what was happening and began to struggle. "L-let me out!" he yelled. "Let me go!"

Walker's laugh came from a speaker somewhere in the room, causing Andy to tense slightly against the leather restraints on the chair. "Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. How naive you are," the man chuckled.

Andy growled as he tried even harder to get out of the restraints. "Let me go, Walker!"

"Hmmm… how about… no!" Walker laughed sinisterly. "That is, unless you're willing to tell me where the memory stick is?"

Andy's eyes narrowed. "Never."

"Then you leave me no choice."

Andy's eyes widened when he felt a sting in his hand, as if he'd had a static shock. Then he felt another at his feet. "No…"

Walker laughed behind his screen as he watched Andy scream in pain, trying to pull away from the chair. "Foolish child should never have messed with me."

Alex looked up when he heard the door open and watched as Andy was thrown into the cell room, his limp body landing on the concrete flooring with a thump.

He crawled over to the other teen, not caring when he spotted the other guards watching him warily. He carefully turned Andy over. "Andy?"

Andy whimpered in pain. "M-m-my shoulder…"

Alex frowned and looked at Andy's shoulders, ignoring the slam of the door behind him. His eyes widened when he realised one was dislocated. He moved over to that shoulder, placing his hand on the shoulder and the other on his back. "Okay, Andy, this is going to hurt…"

Andy's head snapped up. "What?"

Alex took a deep breath before relocating the shoulder.

Andy cried out in pain, whimpering before sitting up and clutching his shoulder. "Hey!"

"I just relocated your shoulder," Alex explained. "You're welcome."

Andy just groaned. He was sore, and tired, and just wanted to go home… "Alex… I don't think I can last much longer in here…"

Alex bit his lip. He'd already cause Andy so much pain… "I'm sorry. This is all my fault…"

"No, it isn't…"

"It is." Alex's eyes hardened. "Andy, I think I've found a way out."

Andy's eyes widened. "Where?"

Alex crawled over to the corner of the cell, to where he and Andy had only recently managed to find a ventilation shaft.

Andy frowned. "I thought we found that it was bolted…?"

Alex curled his fingers around the gate and tugged, wincing when the metal cut into his hands. He continued to tug.

And then the gate came loose.

* * *

><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, readers! It's been a while, hasn't it? Yeah...**

**So I have your next chapter for you! It's getting pretty tense now, but I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

><p>Andy just stared at the metal ventilator gate that was now in clutched in Alex's hands. "It… it came loose?" He frowned in confusion. He was sure that the last time he'd checked, that thing had been bolted firmly to the shaft.<p>

Alex nodded as he held the gate up for Andy to see more clearly, showing him the rusty screws. "The screws are rusty, so they were quite weak. I was able to loosen them enough with my fingers before pulling them loose." He carefully placed the metal gate on the ground so that it did not make too much noise.

Andy slowly crawled over to the opening, watching his ribs to make sure he didn't make them any worse than they already were. He looked down the vent.

The vent wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either. It seemed like it was just big enough for Alex to fit through, and considering Alex was bigger than Andy it meant that they could both escape through the vents. The only thing that put Andy off slightly was the amount of dust and cobwebs in the tunnel.

That, and the stale smell that seemed to be emerging from the tunnel.

_That can't be good for your lungs_, Andy thought, frowning slightly before sitting back.

Alex looked over at Andy hopefully, his blonde hair matted and filthy, and his skin clearly needing a good scrub. "So… are you in?"

Andy blinked at Alex. For the first time ever, Andy was seeing hope in Alex's eyes, and by the expression on his face it didn't seem like something he expressed often. It looked almost… _foreign_. And yet, he could still see the hope.

Alex really wanted to get out of here.

He just wanted to get away from his past.

And to be honest, so did Andy. Being in this building, despite the fact that he had never been brought down here before, brought back all sorts of bad memories. His scar was throbbing…

Andy took one more look at the dusty, filthy tunnel that happened to be their only exit, before turning back to Alex with a small, nervous smile.

"I'm in."

* * *

><p>Tony sighed as he took another turning, the car swerving around the corner at a speed he was sure he'd never travelled at before.<p>

Well, apart from the time that Andy had ended up in hospital when he'd been stabbed.

But that was a different story.

One he didn't exactly want to remember.

Ziva laughed as Tony continued to speed towards their destination, determination clear on his – to her – finely chiselled features.

Tony frowned and spared a glance at her as he sped along. "What's so funny?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Ziva grinned. "I have not seen you drive like this in quite a while!" she exclaimed. "It is strange, and terrifying… yet exhilarating! Nothing like when Gibbs is driving!"

Tony chuckled as he sped round another corner. "Well, I'm glad you love it!" He continued to speed until he reached a familiar area, with old shops surrounding them and boarded up residential houses as far as the eye could see. The roads were grey and dull, and the buildings weren't any prettier. In fact, if it was up to Tony, he would've said that they were uglier.

Ziva looked around. "This is it… we are back."

Tony sighed, the smile falling off his face. "I never thought I'd return here," he muttered, his hands gripping the steering wheel.

Ziva reached out and placed a hand on Tony's. "I know… neither did I…"

He gave her a small smile before they finally reached their destination.

They both looked over at the warehouse, with its old shattered windows and grey, drab walls.

"This is it…" Ziva muttered.

Tony nodded before looking her in the eyes. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Andy winced as he continued to crawl through the vents. It was a pretty tight fit, as he wasn't exactly a small guy, and the cobwebs all over the walls seemed to love getting into his face and hair, which he had stupidly decided to grow out before he had been kidnapped.<p>

Then again, he hadn't foreseen this.

He coughed as another puff of dust floated straight into his mouth and down to his lungs, the motion making his ribs ache. He squeezed his eyes shut. "How much longer?" he managed to splutter out between coughs.

Alex grit his teeth from where he crawled in front of Andy. "Not much longer…" he managed to mutter out, not finishing with '_I hope_', as he had intended to. He wasn't faring any better than Andy was anyway.

All of his cuts, some way or another, had managed to reopen, if only a little bit. This meant that dust and cobwebs were getting into his blood, and Alex knew from enough of his missions that it wasn't going to be good for his health.

He'd be surprised if he made it out of here without an infection of some sort.

He grunted as he felt his shoulder hit one of the walls, and a loose piece of metal scratched him through his now tattered shirt.

Andy brushed another cobweb out of his face as he looked over at Alex with concern on his face. "You okay, dude?" he whispered, coughing a little when more dust got into his mouth.

Alex managed to nod before crawling further. "Yeah…" He managed to twist around a corner before freezing, his nose crinkling in disgust.

Andy nearly crawled right into him before crinkling his nose in disgust. "What _is_ that?" he coughed, bringing his hand up to cover his nose and mouth.

Alex bit his lip as he covered his mouth and nose.

"_Our only exit._"

* * *

><p>Walker chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, satisfied with what he had done so for.<p>

He'd broken both boys, now.

He was sure of it.

Now to just squeeze the information he needed out of the two boys, and then he could dispose of them.

It was simple really.

"Simon!" he called out.

A few seconds later, a large guard ran into the room, wearing pretty much the same as all of he other guards wore – black. "Yes, sir?"

Walker grinned. "Bring the two boys to me."

Simon frowned. "Together, sir?"

Walker sighed. _Were all of his guards this stupid?_ "Yes. Together." He waved the guard away. "Now, chop chop, bring them to me."

The guard nodded and ran out of the room, heading down to the cell where he two boys were being kept. He pushed the door open…

Walker's head snapped over to the door when he heard someone barge in, and frowned deeply when his guard stood there, panting deeply.

"Sir…" Simon managed to breathe out. "The boys… they've escaped!"

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is the <em>only<em> exit?"

Alex sighed as he looked down the tunnel again, coughing when he breathed in some more dust. "Yes," he managed to choke out. "Unless you would like to waste time searching for another…"

Andy sighed and looked back down the tunnel. "What if they've found out…?"

"All the more reason to hurry up and get your arse out of there, Andy."

Andy took one more look back down the tunnel before crawling after Alex, through to the small exit at the end of the tunnel. He managed to crawl through the small hole before landing on a concrete floor.

The tunnel had led to an area just outside of the warehouse. The flooring was a dark concrete, and surrounding it was a large metal fence with wire mesh at the top to deter anyone who dared climb over.

Andy groaned.

There went one exit.

Alex sighed as he stood. "Come on… let's keep moving…"

Andy looked around and realised where the smell – that horrid smell he'd smelt in the tunnel – was coming from.

There was a sewage dump right beside the warehouse.

Which was strange.

Because he hadn't noticed it before.

"Andy?"

Andy turned to see Alex standing not too far from him, one of his eyebrows raised. He smiled sheepishly before following the blonde. "Sorry…"

Alex smirked before turning and walking off. "Just come on. We need to get out of here before we get caught…"

"I think it's a little late for that."

The two boys turned to see Walker standing behind them, his arms folded and a gun sitting fairly loosely in his hand. He had an evil smirk on his face as he slowly walked towards the boys.

Alex's eyes widened. "Andy…"

Andy was frozen to the spot. "Yeah…?"

"Run."

* * *

><p>Tony looked over at Ziva, snapping his magazine into his gun. "You ready?" he asked her.<p>

Ziva loaded a magazine into her gun as she shut the car door with her leg, pushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She nodded at Tony and gave him a small smile. "Yes."

Tony nodded and gave her a small smile before his face became serious and he neared the warehouse, his gun at the ready.

Ziva followed him, her small smile also melting, and her steps light and careful as she looked around. She had Tony's back, watching for any danger. Her gun was slightly raised and her eyes darted around.

Tony walked towards the warehouse before carefully moving to stand on one side of the door.

Ziva moved to stand on the other side.

Their eyes met.

He nodded.

_One…_

_Two…_

_Three!_

Both agents kicked in the door, knocking it straight off its hinges and causing it to splinter all over the floor. They then walked into the warehouse, their guns up as they scanned the room for any danger or threat.

Ziva headed towards the right side of the room, scanning for any available hiding spots. There were tables, chairs, old pieces of machinery, and even pieces of rotten food that were at that moment being digested by bacteria and rodents.

Tony headed to the opposite side of the room, doing the same. He didn't see tables and chairs as such, but large plastic and cardboard boxes were piled along the wall leaving plenty of hiding spots for the Senior Field Agent to search. He groaned inwardly as he began to search.

"Clear!"

The call came eventually as Ziva holstered her gun and turned to look over to where Tony stood on the other side of the warehouse. He seemed to be doing the same thing.

"Clear!" he called back, running a hand through his hair as he sighed. His eyes darted around worriedly as he tried to look for any clues. "Where could they be?"

* * *

><p>Andy panted deeply as he ran, ignoring the constant pain in his ribs as he tried to get enough oxygen into his lungs. He skidded around a corner, narrowly missing the gunshots that were aimed at his feet.<p>

Alex ran in front of him, in just as bad a shape as Andy himself was. He had cuts and bruises all over him, covering his skin, and where some of the cuts had reopened there was blood leaking onto his skin. His ribs had already been broken, quite a little while ago, but he was able to overcome that pain. He was just scared that he'd break another bone.

He jumped around a corner just as a bullet bounced off the concrete at his feet and landed on the ground with a thud, making the pain in his ribs too intense to ignore.

Andy tripped over the fallen blonde, groaning as he fell to the ground. It wasn't long before he managed to pull himself back to his feet, though, and he quickly crawled over to Alex. "Hey, Al, get up!"

Alex just winced before attempting to pull himself to his feet. He cried out in pain when he felt one of his ribs move and fell back to the ground weakly.

Andy frowned. "Alex? Get up!"

Alex took a few slow breaths and closed his eyes tightly. "I… I can't…" he managed to say through pained breaths. "It hurts too much…" He slowly turned his head to look up at Andy. "Go on without me…"

Andy's eyes widened. No… "Alex, you can't give up now!"

Alex sighed. "I'm not giving up! I'm giving you time!" He looked back to where he could hear shouts. "Andy, go!"

Andy spared Alex one last look before running off.

* * *

><p>Tony sighed.<p>

He felt defeated.

They had come all this way, only to find that the boys weren't there.

He ran a tired hand down his face. "Ziva…"

Ziva sighed softly before placing a kiss on his cheek. "It is alright, Tony. We will find them."

"But when?" Tony suddenly exploded. "They've been gone for ages! For all we know, they could be dead!"

She tensed. "Tony, please…"

Tony stormed towards the car. "No, Ziva! You just don't get it!" He turned to face her.

Ziva's eyes were wide. "Tony…"

"He's like my little brother, Zi! He trusts me, I trust him! We do almost everything together!"

Her eyes flickered over to the approaching figure, and then back to him. "No, wait, Tony…"

"And to just lose that because of some stupid memory chip?!" He was nearly ripping his hair out now.

"Tony, look out!"

But it was too late.

Tony turned in time just to have someone crash into him. The two fell to the ground in a heap.

Tony groaned. "Hey… kid… watch where you're going next time…"

The person groaned, although this groan sounded much more pained. "S-sorry…" said a familiar voice.

Tony blinked before his eyes widened. He recognised that voice. He quickly sat up and pushed the person off him.

"Hey!" the person wrapped his arms around his ribs, his eyes shut tight in pain. "Don't do that! It hurt!"

Tony just stared at the person. "Andy…?"

Andy opened his eyes before turning his head. His eyes were wide.

"_Tony?!_"

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><p><strong>Ooooooooooh...<strong>

**Review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey readers! So, I read all of the reviews I got for the last chapter, and I was so encouraged by the number of people that wanted me to update that I decided to write this as soon as possible! I hope you like this chapter too, readers!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Andy sighed as he lay across the back seat of the NCIS Charger, his arms wrapped around his ribs as he groaned quietly. He was in so much pain…<p>

_Tony just stared at the person. "Andy…?"_

_Andy opened his eyes before turning his head. His eyes were wide in shock._

"_Tony?!"_

_Tony just continued to blink, still in a state of shock. He could not believe this. Just after he had been going on about how he had lost Andy, and there was no chance of getting him back, the teenage boy had appeared out of nowhere._

_Yes, he had been bruised, cut, and probably had some broken bones, but he was alive._

_Alive._

_The freaking boy was alive._

_Forgetting about what Andy had said earlier about something hurting, Tony quickly reached over and pulled the beaten and battered boy into a hug._

_Andy hadn't been expecting the hug, so he was too shocked to protest when he actually received it. Instead he leaned into the embrace, missing the feel of such human contact, and closed his eyes, tears beginning to form._

_He just didn't know whether the tears currently rolling down his cheeks were from relief at his own safety, or pity for Alex's recapture._

"_God, Andy…"_

_Ziva walked over to the pair and knelt down beside them before hugging them both._

_Andy moved to bury his face in Ziva's shoulder before beginning to sob, everything overwhelming him._

_Ziva rubbed Andy's back slowly. "Let's go home," she told him quietly, a small, rare, loving smile on her face._

_Andy nodded before pausing, a sudden thought hitting him. "What about Alex?" he asked quietly, barely able to trust his voice._

_Tony frowned. "Alex?" He looked around desperately for the other teen. "Where is he?" he demanded._

"_He… he got recaptured whilst we were trying to escape…" Andy explained._

_There were gunshots coming from just around the corner of the building, and both Field Agents' eyes widened._

_Ziva stood. "Let's go," she commanded, the warm smile that was once on her face immediately disappearing._

_Andy frowned. "But Alex—" he started._

"_You are in no condition to be of any help to him at the moment, Andy," Ziva pointed out. "Let's get you patched up and then we can come back for him."_

_Andy voiced his fears. "What if it's too late?"_

_Ziva paused for a few seconds, contemplating how to answer. "It will not be." She helped Andy to his feet. "Trust me."_

_Andy seemed to doubt her for a few seconds before nodding. "Fine…"_

_Tony stood and brushed himself down before smiling at the two. "Let's go." His eyes widened when he heard more gunshots._

_Ziva nodded as she began to pull Andy in the direction of the gates our of the warehouse and the car. "And let's hurry."_

"We'll be back at NCIS in no time, Andy," Tony said as he looked back at the teen. "Just hang in there, okay?"

The only reason why Tony had said this was because Ziva was driving, and she wasn't just driving at her regular speed.

No, she was driving at double the speed.

Tony closed his eyes tightly as she swerved around a corner at top speeds, the tyres smoking and skidding as she attempted to keep the car upright.

Andy managed to nod as he groaned quietly. His ribs were killing him now… and not only that, but the sudden exposure to the light had given him a headache that wouldn't go away. He gripped his ribs tighter as his eyes closed tightly. "Uhhhhh…" he groaned.

Tony opened his eyes to glance at the teenage boy, who was now getting paler and paler by the minute, before looking over at his co-worker/girlfriend. "I think he's getting worse, Ziva…"

Ziva nodded and floored the accelerator, making them go even faster as they headed back to the base.

Tony winced before picking up his phone and dialling number 5 on speed dial. He put the phone to his ear and waited patiently, smiling when the other person picked up. "Hey, Duck? We need you to get to NCIS a.s.a.p. …" He bit his lip and glanced back at Andy. "It's an emergency."

Andy managed to crack open one eye. The pain was beginning to overwhelm him…

He didn't remember when he passed out.

* * *

><p>When Andy next woke up, he found himself lying on one of the tables in Autopsy. He had a pounding headache, and his chest hurt terribly as he lay weakly on the table. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and he looked down to see that his chest was wrapped with a bandage. He carefully began to sit up.<p>

"Woah, there, my lad!" A hand came down on his shoulder and carefully began pushing him back down… the shoulder that had been dislocated.

Suffice to say, it was still a little sore.

Andy winced as he was pushed back down before he lay there patiently, looking up at the M.E. in slight annoyance.

Ducky just smiled softly at the teen. "How are you feeling, Andrew, my lad?" he asked Andy.

Andy took a deep breath before wincing and closing his eyes. "Great…" he lied.

Ducky nodded before going to pick up his clipboard. He read through it as he returned to Andy. "From what I have observed, you have some broken ribs, many bruises and cuts, and a concussion…" He raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything else that I should add?"

Andy looked up at Ducky before sighing. "I had my shoulder dislocated… but Alex popped it back in…" His eyes widened and he sat up quickly. "Alex! Ow…" He winced and wrapped his arms around his ribs.

Ducky frowned. "Slow down, my lad! You aren't fully fit yet! In fact, I was the one who suggested we take you into hospital!" He sighed. "You are lucky Anthony and Ziva stopped me from doing so!"

Andy blinked at Ducky, only just registering what he said, before moving to stand up. "I need to get back to Alex! He's still in there!"

"Still in where?" Ducky asked curiously as he pushed Andy back to sit him on the table.

"The warehouse! They recaptured him! And—"

Suddenly the doors to the Autopsy room opened, and both males turned to see Gibbs storm in, anger in his eyes.

Andy's eyes widened and he paled. _Oh no…_

"Where the hell have you been?!" was the first thing he exclaimed as he stormed over to Andy, who was still sitting on the table.

Andy stared at him wide-eyed. "Uh…"

"Do you know how worried I've been?!" Gibbs exploded. "I've been searching for days, Andy! _Days!_ Day and night! Do you know how little I've slept?!"

"Missed you too, dad," Andy muttered, just loud enough for Gibbs to hear.

Gibbs froze, the words just registering. And then it clicked.

Andy was back.

His son was _home_.

He ran over to the boy and pulled him into a tight hug, his eyes closed tightly as he relished in the fact that he was able to hold his boy again.

Andy's eyes were wide, but he melted into the hug, hugging his father back and burying his face in his shoulder. He didn't even try to hold back the sobs that escaped as he cried into Gibbs' shoulder.

Gibbs rubbed Andy's back gently before kissing his hair in a fatherly manner. He buried his face in his son's hair – it was filthy, but it was Andy's. He had missed touching it…

The two embraced each other tightly for a few minutes before Gibbs pulled away, looking his son straight in the eye.

"Right. Let's get you to a hospital," Gibbs said, beginning to pull Andy off the table.

Andy's eyes widened, and he pulled out of his father's grip. "No."

Gibbs frowned as he turned back to face Andy. "'No'?" he asked. "Whad'ya mean 'No'? Do you know how many injuries you have, how terrible you look?"

"And do you know how many injuries Alex has?" Andy retorted. "Alex is stuck in there, dad! He gave up his freedom to let me escape! I'm not letting him die for something that was partly my fault, Gibbs!"

Gibbs tensed. It had been a while since Andy had referred to him as _Gibbs_… over a year, in fact. And that meant he was serious. He sighed. He really wanted his son to be safe before he did anything drastic…

"If you save Alex, you can get the guy who murdered the Petty Officer too," Andy pointed out, a small smirk on his face. He knew Gibbs couldn't resist catching a killer.

Gibbs' ice cold eyes hardened and he stared at Andy. "You know how to get to the place?"

"Everyone knows how to get to the place," Andy shrugged. "It's just getting in and manoeuvring that I have as an advantage."

Gibbs noticed the glint in his eyes and smirked.

Andrew was out for revenge.

* * *

><p>Alex hung his head in defeat.<p>

He was tied to a chair in the middle of a plain white room.

White floors, white walls. White everything.

The only thing that wasn't coloured white was the metal door in the corner, which was a dark silver that stood out from the rest of the room.

Alex looked around the room, taking his surroundings into account.

There weren't any windows in the room that led outside, which crossed out that form of escape, but there was a ventilation system. This one seemed far newer than the one that had been in the cell room, and much cleaner too.

It was a shame that he was tied to the chair.

There was no way that he could get out.

He sighed.

Just as he ended that train of thought, the silver metal door – which was heavy from the sound of it – was opened and some guards walked in, all looking as burly and threatening as ever. Not long after they had entered, Walker followed, holding his favourite weapon – his whip – and cracking it against the harsh white floors. A faint trail of blood was left behind where the whip had hit the ground, and then it was wiped away with Walker's foot as he walked over to Alex. He put his hand under Alex's chin and tilted his head up sharply so that their eyes met.

"Ah, Alex…" he smirked evilly, "…it seems like your little… _friend_ has ditched you." He squeezed Alex's jaw tighter. "I guess that means you're all alone… not that it's anything new, right? You've always been alone in this world…"

Alex tensed, trying to keep his mind straight and away from temptation, or depression… or hurt…

The blinding floors and walls were off-putting, and the fact that Walker was gripping his chin tightly and forcing him to look into his crazed eyes didn't make it any easier for him to control his feelings. So, he did what he did best.

He spat in Walker's face.

Walker reeled back, wiping the teen's slightly bloody saliva from his face before glaring at him harshly. "You will pay for that, Alex Rider," he snarled, his face dark. "You will pay." He turned on his heel and headed out of the room. Just as he was about to exit, he turned to his guards. "Show him no mercy," he commanded before slamming the door shut behind him.

Alex tensed even more as the door slammed shut, and the guards turned on him, sinister smiles on their faces. He narrowed his eyes at them challengingly, forcing confidence into his eyes.

"Bring it."

* * *

><p>Gibbs sighed as he watched his son get up from the autopsy table and walk around, muttering to himself.<p>

"We need to get to the compound… but we need to be prepared… we need backup… and weapons…" Andy muttered, thinking deeply as he paced.

Gibbs sighed. "Andrew…"

Andy continued to pace and mutter.

"Andrew…"

"Maybe we need a whole squad…"

"Hey! Parkson!"

Andy froze before turning slowly to face Gibbs. "Yes, sir?" he asked, frowning a little.

Gibbs smirked. "Chill."

Andy snorted. It had to be the first time that he'd heard Gibbs use slang… and it would probably be the last. "How can I 'chill'? My friend… my _best_ friend… is captured! He's probably being tortured! No, he's definitely being tortured! And he's probably being all smartass in the process!" he snapped. "We need to get him _out_!"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at Andy. He'd never really seen Andy this agitated about anyone's safety before… other than Jessie's. "And we will, Andy."

"How?!" Andy demanded. "How will we?!"

Gibbs smirked and walked over to his son, his hands in his pockets.

"We send you in."

A slow grin spread across Andy's face. "Dad… that is the best idea you've had all day."

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><p><strong>Ooooh... review!<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, guys! It's been a while! I'm really really sorry for not updating in over a month. I've had exams (five within one week, and our teachers still find the time to give us homework -.- ) and some writer's block when writing this story - I know what I want to write, but I just don't know how to put it into the right words! Not only that, but I've started this Arts Awards thing, so I've basically started a whole new story. It's a lot for me to balance. But I'm back with a new chapter for you all! I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>"This has to be the worst idea you've ever had."<p>

Gibbs sighed and looked over at Tony, who was sitting in the passenger seat whilst Ziva, McGee and Andy were squashed in the back, watching everything that was going on. "It's not a terrible idea, Tony…" he started.

"I think it's a great idea," Andy muttered quietly from where he was sat in between the two field agents.

"Of course you would!" Tony snapped, hearing Andy's statement. "You're the one that wants to go! Only you would think that it's a good idea!" he pointed out.

"And are you actually going to give him a gun?" Ziva questioned, crinkling her nose slightly in distaste. "He is too young for that, is he not? And I am not sure whether he would be able to use a gun in a fight…"

Andy scowled at the couple. "I'm not useless, you know! I can help you get in, get Alex and get out!" he pointed out. "I've been in that place! I know how to get in!"

"But you don't know how to stay safe!" Tony argued, turning in his seat to face him. "You don't know how to handle a damn gun! And you don't know how to aim, or how to shoot!"

"Yes I do! I've been to the shoot range enough times, and I've handled a gun multiple times before! I know how to aim, and to shoot!" Andy looked furious as he glared at Tony. "And aren't you meant to be supporting me?! You're like a brother to me, Tony! You're meant to support me and to help me!"

"No, I'm meant to think of what's best for you – something that your father definitely isn't doing!" Tony growled, glaring at Gibbs. "You could get killed, or worse – re-kidnapped!"

"I won't! And you'll see that I won't!"

"No he won't," Gibbs said calmly.

Both males turned to him. "What?"

"Ziva, McGee, stand outside for a moment. I need to talk to these two." Gibbs gave both Tony and Andy stern looks.

Ziva and McGee gave the boys sympathetic looks before climbing out of the Charger and standing on the pavement, keeping out of view of the compound.

Gibbs waited until he was sure that they were out of earshot before headslapping both boys.

Andy winced and rubbed the back of his head, scowling a little, whilst Tony just cringed, knowing exactly why he had been headslapped.

"What was that for?!" Andy asked, pouting.

"Quit bickering like little girls," their father growled, a small smile creeping onto his face when both males shrunk away from him. "Now, are ya gonna listen?"

They nodded.

"Andrew is definitely going to assist us on this mission—"

"But—" Tony started.

"Let me finish," Gibbs interrupted with another headslap. Once he was sure that Tony would be quiet, he continued. "Andrew will assist us on this mission, but he will only be entering the field when absolutely necessary."

Andy frowned. "What does that mean?"

"That means that you will be using McGee's computer thingy to guide us, whilst you sit here in the car. You'll have an ear piece, so you can hear everything that happens, and we'll alert you as soon as we need you."

Andy's jaw dropped. "What?! No fair!" He growled. "You said that you'd send me in! You promised! You suggested it, Gibbs!"

Gibbs sighed, feeling very irritated. "Andrew, shut up."

Andy's mouth closed and he sat back, scowling.

Tony grinned triumphantly. "Ha! Yes! I win!"

Gibbs turned on him. "Not quite yet, DiNozzo. Andrew is allowed to come out of the car as soon as I call him to. And _you_ have no say in it."

Tony's jaw dropped. "Oh, come on, boss—"

"No. My answer is final. Now get your ass out of the car."

Tony grumbled quietly to himself as he climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him.

Gibbs turned to Andy. "McGee's gonna get all your stuff set up for you, and then we're heading in. I don't want any arguments from you, alright?"

Andy scowled, refusing to speak.

"Alright?" Gibbs pressed for an answer.

The teen huffed. "Fine."

Gibbs nodded. "Good." He opened his car door. "McGee!" he called out. "Fix up that stuff for Andy so we can get moving."

McGee nodded and hurried into the car, setting up all of the equipment for Andy and handing out the earpieces. Once that was done, all four field agents got their guns ready.

"You ready?" Gibbs asked.

"We've wasted enough time already," Tony said lowly. "Let's go."

Ziva nodded in agreement and began to lead the team into the compound.

* * *

><p>Alex gritted his teeth as his head whipped sharply to the side, the force of the blow almost giving him whiplash. His face was now littered with bruises – a punishment given because of his ever-so-snarky comments, as usual.<p>

Not only did he have bruises all over his face, but there were cuts and bruises on his torso as well. The whip marks and the cuts that had finally managed to close up and begin to heal had been reopened, and even more had been added. The bullet wound on his chest was red and angry – untouched by any of his abusers, but still angry due to stress.

The man in front of him down at him smirked evilly. "Ah, foolish Rider… you thought you could get away, didn't you?"

Alex just stared straight at him, not speaking at all. He was bound to the chair tightly, meaning that he had no chance of escape this time, and his filthy hair hung over his eyes, overgrown and in desperate need of a trim.

_I really do need a trim…_ Alex found himself thinking when his hair started going into his eyes and tickling his nose. Then he frowned to himself. _Why on earth am I thinking that?_

His captor raised an eyebrow. _Was this boy finally going mad?_

The door opened, and Walker entered the room. He was swinging a chain casually in his hand, trying to seem threatening to Alex. "How's our little captive doing?"

Alex looked over at him. "Oh, I'm doing great, thanks. How are you?" he bit back sarcastically.

The big man clad in black slapped him across the face. "End it with that cheek, you little—"

"Leave him be, Jonas," Walker commanded as he neared Alex. "I can deal with the kid on my own."

Jonas narrowed his eyes at Alex before stepping back obediently and leaving Alex still bound to the chair, his head hanging.

Walker knelt down so that he could make eye-contact with Alex. "You know, I've been doing fairly well, but I could do better." He grabbed Alex's chin and tilted it up sharply. "Do you know what could make it better?"

Alex just stared at him silently.

Suddenly, Walker slapped him across his face harshly. "You will answer me when I speak to you, boy. You know what I want."

Alex grit his teeth as his face whipped to the side. He winced when he tasted blood and spat it out, the red blotch creating a stark contrast on the pale grey concrete floor. "Yeah…? And?"

Walker growled. "Where is it?!" he exploded. "Where is the memory stick?!"

Alex just attempted to snarl, his eyes darkening as he growled. "I won't tell you. There's no way in hell that I'd ever tell you!"

Walker growled lowly and suddenly pulled out a dagger, aiming it at Alex's neck. "Do not push me, Rider. Tell me where that stick is, or I'll make you suffer in unimaginable ways."

"Alex smirked. "You kill me, and there'll be no way to get your information, you idiot."

Walker growled, but pulled the knife away from his neck. "You smartass, you." He moved the knife so that it was aimed to hit his knee. "You tell me where the memory stick is, or you'll never walk again."

* * *

><p>Tony sighed as he moved away from the boxes. "Clear!" he called out.<p>

Ziva looked over. "Are you sure?"

"Everything it exactly the way we found it, Ziva. Even the rats are still here."

She sighed. "Well, look for any sign of an exit." She began to look around. "The men must have some way to get to Alex."

McGee sighed as he looked around. "Are you sure this it the right way, Andy?" he asked into his earpiece.

"_Yes, I'm sure. That's the way Alex and I were dragged in. Look for a door._"

McGee and Gibbs looked around the door they had come through, and both agents realised there was a second door not too far from it. This one had no window, and was made of metal. Both agents walked over to it, and stood by the door.

"Hey!" Gibbs called over to Ziva and Tony. "We've found something!"

Tony and Ziva looked over before joining the other two agents at the door.

"Is this the door, Andy?" Tony asked.

"_Is it metal and bolted?_"

Ziva stood back. "Well, it is metal… but any bolts seem to have been broken off or removed at one point or another."

"_Then that should be it._"

The agents nodded and moved into different positions. Gibbs moved to hold the door handle, and the three younger agents all stood back, aiming their guns at the door. They all glanced at their leader.

Gibbs nodded.

_One…_

_Two…_

_Three!_

Gibbs pulled the door open – an incredible feat considering the door was quite heavy – and all three agents aimed their guns at whatever was behind the door.

But there was nothing there.

Just a dark staircase that seemed to lead down to a basement.

The agents all shared looks before Gibbs pulled out a torch, and they parted so that he could go first and provide them with light.

Gibbs stepped onto the dark landing before shining his light down the stairs. It was definitely an old staircase, as the stairs themselves were made out of wood and the walls were covered with cobwebs. The ceiling of the staircase was brick, which had already started to wear away.

Tony cringed. "Do we have to go down there?" he asked quietly.

"Stop being such a… wuss," Ziva told him. "It is not that scary. It is just like going to a House of Horrors."

"I never liked those as a kid," he muttered.

McGee smirked. "Really? I wasn't scared of them…"

"Shut up, McGee."

"Quit being a girl, DiNozzo, and just follow me," Gibbs said gruffly as he began descending the stairs.

McGee smirked and pushed Tony forward slightly. "Go on, Tony. You first, as the senior field agent."

Tony glared back at him before carefully following Gibbs down the stairs.

* * *

><p>Andy sighed as he sat in the Charger. He had heard the whole conversation that had taken place between the agents. He had been especially amused to hear that Tony wasn't so fond of horror houses.<p>

_I must remember to use that against him sometime._

Then he heard them begin to descend the staircase, and he suddenly felt alone. They were actually down there now, going to fight for Alex, and he was just sitting up here in the Charger doing nothing. He couldn't actually do anything now. Not until they got some proper light – then he'd be able to see through the camera on McGee's bulletproof vest.

He sighed and picked up the gun that had been left on the seat beside him.

The gun had been left specifically for him, just in case he was forced to join in with the rescue. It seemed that it would be highly unlikely that he would use it, if Gibbs and Tony had their way, so all he could do was sit there and examine it.

Suddenly, the screen to the laptop on his lap flickered to life and Andy jumped, dropping the gun. It clattered on the keyboard as it fell, and Andy winced.

"_Andy? Are you alright?_" came McGee's voice.

"Uh… y-yeah, I'm good! I just dropped the gun!" he answered quickly as he turned back to the laptop screen.

All he could see on the screen was grey. Grey walls, grey floors, grey lights. All different shades and colours. The walls and the floor were concrete, looking as cold as ever, and there were doors spaced out evenly on each side of the corridor, all a dull grey metal.

Andy couldn't stop the sharp intake of breath when he saw the corridor, fear striking him. Seeing that just brought back bad memories…

"_Andy? Are you alright?_" came Ziva's concerned voice.

"_Should we continue on our own?_" Tony questioned. "_If it's too much for you, we can go on and you can just watch._"

Andy suddenly shook his head before remembering that they couldn't see him. "I… I'll be fine." He took a deep breath before focusing. "Okay… from what I remember, our cell was the fourth one on the right… or the third… or maybe the fifth or sixth…"

Gibbs' irritated sigh came through the earpiece. "_So we're going to check each one of those doors?_"

Andy bit his lip. "Sorry…"

"_It's fine,_" McGee said. "_We can check the doors._"

Andy watched as the camera moved on screen, and it headed towards one of the doors. In the corner, he could see Tony and Ziva head to two of the other doors, guns at the ready. He assumed Gibbs headed to the final door and sat back, watching.

The doors were kicked open, and he watched as McGee entered into one of the rooms, his gun up as he cleared it. "_Clear._"

"_Clear,_" came Gibbs' voice.

"_Clear,_" Tony said into the earpiece.

"_I have found something,_" Ziva said. "_I think you all need to come and take a look at this!_"

The camera moved, and soon enough it was in the room that Ziva had chosen.

Andy gasped. He recognised the room. It was the room he and Alex had been locked in. The ventilator gate was still on the floor by the hole in the wall, and there were still faint blotches of blood on the concrete floor. From the look on Tony's face on the screen, the room probably still smelled stale as well.

"_Is this the room, Andy?_" Gibbs asked quietly, feeling tense.

"Y-yeah…" Andy breathed. He was dazed. The memories had all come flooding back, and he couldn't stop them. "W-where's Alex?"

The agents looked around.

"_It seems as if they moved him to a more secure location,_" Tony pointed out. "_We'll have to go further into the compound._"

"_If we go any further in, we could lose connection with Andy,_" McGee warned.

Andy waited as Gibbs contemplated it for a few seconds. "_That's a risk we'll just have to take,_" the lead agent finally said.

Andy grit his teeth, glancing at the gun.

If he didn't get permission to use that piece of equipment by himself during the rescue, then he would use it without permission.

_I promise, Alex._

_We will save you._

_Even if it's the last thing I do._

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello, my dear and faithful readers! I know, it's been a while - over a month, in fact! - but I've had so much put on my plate that I haven't had the inspiration or imagination to write this fic! I know, it's terrible, but I finally have your next chapter here for you! It's not as long as my previous ones, but I tried, okay?**

**I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>"<em>It seems as if they moved him to a more secure location," Tony pointed out. "We'll have to go further into the compound."<em>

"_If we go any further in, we could lose connection with Andy," McGee warned._

_Andy waited as Gibbs contemplated it for a few seconds. "That's a risk we'll just have to take," the lead agent finally said._

_Andy grit his teeth, glancing at the gun._

_If he didn't get permission to use that piece of equipment by himself during the rescue, then he would use it without permission._

_I promise, Alex._

_We will save you._

_Even if it's the last thing I do._

Tony raised an eyebrow at Gibbs. "Boss…"

"Yeah, DiNozzo?"

"Is… is this a risk _worth_ taking?"

The ice cold glare Tony received from Gibbs had to be the coldest glare he had ever received.

"You're asking me whether _a teenage boy_ is worth risking our lives, DiNozzo? A teenage boy, who has been the main victim in our case?" Gibbs headslapped Tony hard, the slap making a resounding noise that echoed in the room. "Well?"

Tony closed his eyes, taking the pain. "S-sorry, boss," he said quietly, looking down like a scolded child. "I… I didn't think…"

"You never do," Ziva pointed out with a small smirk, ending the tense atmosphere.

McGee gave a small smile. "That's actually very true, Tony. Learn to think more."

"Or at least install a filter between your brain and your mouth," Ziva added.

All three agents stared at her in shock and amusement before Tony broke the silence with a small snort and a smirk.

"You actually got something right for once," he pointed out at her confused look before he turned to walk out of the room.

McGee grinned and followed Tony out of the room. "Gosh, Tony, when will you learn that you shouldn't bug your girlfriend like that, especially when she is close to 'murder mode'?"

Ziva frowned before huffing. "If those Scorpia agents do not kill you, Tony, then I will do it myself," she muttered as she followed the two men out of the room, pulling her gun out of its holster and preparing herself for any ambushes.

Gibbs looked around the room one last time, taking in all of the information that he could – including the opened vent – before turning towards the exit. "You alright, Andy?"

"_Yeah…_" came the eventual reply, his voice sounding quite sad.

Gibbs sighed. "Andrew, I know you really wanted to help us, but I want you to be safe, alright?" He waited for a response. "Alright?" he repeated.

"_Alright._"

"Good. I'll talk to you until it cuts off." He headed out of the exit, gun at the ready for ambushes. "You listening?"

"_Yes, sir._"

"Good."

* * *

><p>Andy groaned as he looked around the car, feeling extremely bored. They were going to go in without him, and now he was probably going to suffer in silence until his found out that they had Alex.<p>

The silence hadn't even started yet, and it was killing him.

He spotted the gun lying on the seat beside him, and could literally hear it taunting him. _Maybe he should… no, but… then again…_

He quickly looked back to the laptop, checking to see where the agents were. They were definitely deeper into the compound now, if the difference in the colour of the halls and walls were anything to go by. "Where are you?" he asked into the ear mic.

"_We're not exactly sure…_" McGee muttered. "_We're definitely further into the compound, but we're not sure where. We took a couple of turns… can you spot us on that map?_"

Andy opened the map up on the laptop and searched for a little while before finding the four dots. "Found you." He frowned. "Hey… where did you find this map?"

"_Somewhere. You don't need to know._"

Andy smirked. "Ah… 'somewhere'." He snorted. "Does that 'somewhere' happen to be in Scorpia's system?"

"_Got it in one_."

The teen was just about to retort when some other dots came up on the system further along the corridor. He bit his lip. "Okay, guys, there are some agents up ahead…"

* * *

><p>Alex groaned as he slowly regained consciousness.<p>

The last thing he remembered was being held in _that _room, screaming in pain. He could vaguely remember Walker talking to him about something he was sure that he knew about, but the main memory that struck him was that of the pain he endured. _So much pain…_

He was now in the new cell that they'd assigned him with. This cell was more secure than the one that he'd shared with Andy, with the door now a thick steel and the vent high on the wall – pretty much in the ceiling. The gate to the ventilation system was secured firmly to the wall, so that mode of escape was ruled out. The only window to the room that was literally made out of concrete and steel was in the ceiling, and the wall itself was about fifteen centimetres thick.

All in all, it was pretty much impossible for Alex to escape now.

He moved his neck, cringing when he felt pain shoot up it. He had been asleep on the concrete for a while, meaning he now had a crick in his neck.

"Ah…" he groaned as he tried to move. He stopped when he felt a searing pain shoot up his leg and looked down.

His shorts – or, what used to be his shorts – were tattered and torn, with dried blood along the areas that the cuts had been made. His lower legs were covered in cuts that had dried and started to heal, all of them looking relatively shallow.

In fact, none of the serious injuries started until he reached his knee.

The front of his knees seemed to be scraped open and slightly mangled – so much so that Alex could see the bone and nearly had to force himself to look away to stop himself from throwing up. On either side of his left knee, a deep cut had been made, revealing the flesh beneath. These cuts were still bleeding sluggishly, and were the main reason for the pool of blood beneath his left leg.

Alex leaned back against the wall, wincing when his head hit the concrete. "Ow…" he mumbled.

His arms were definitely far better off. They were covered in shallow scratch marks made by Walker's nails as he had tried to pry information out of Alex, as well as bruises from the punches and kicks he had received. They seemed to be wounds that would heal quickly and easily, unlike his knees.

"What if I have to go for surgery…?" he muttered. He knew the American hospital system was nothing like the NHS, so he'd have to get someone to pay for the surgery. "Dammit…" What if he never found the Pleasures again? What if he could never go back to San Francisco to see the friends that he'd just made? What if he was stuck with these NCIS guys and had to go into care? What if he had to have surgery and it messed up? What if he could never walk again? What if…?

He was brought out of his thoughts when the sound of a bolt grating against the door entered the room (more like a cell), and about a minute later the heavy steel door was pushed open by a couple of Scorpia guards.

Walker walked past the guards and into the room, straight over to Alex.

Alex just stared up at him blankly. If it weren't for the fact that he was injured, he would have tried to move away from the manic man, but any movement to his knee caused intense pain.

Walker kneeled down in front of Alex, looking the teen straight in the eye. "So, your little friend escaped, right?"

Alex just blinked. "So? What does that have to do with me?" he asked, looking and feeling confused. Andy had gone, probably back to NCIS… where they would have worried for him… _oh…_

Walker narrowed his eyes at Alex. "Did he call for help?"

Alex stayed silent.

Walker growled lowly and grabbed the front of the remains of Alex's shirt, not caring one little bit when the boy yelped in pain. "Did you ask him to call for help?" he asked, exaggerating every word slowly as if Alex wasn't a native English speaker.

Alex just glared back at Walker, resisting the urge to spit in his face. "So what if I did?" he asked defiantly. "He would've done so even if I hadn't told him to! He's stubborn like that. Andrew Gibbs is a stubborn ass."

Walker slapped Alex across the face, smirking as the ex-spy's head snapped to the side sharply before returning to glare darkly at him. "Now, now, Rider. I don't want any cheek from you. Especially as we are being invaded by federal agents."

Alex's eyes widened. _They were in the building. Looking for him. And Walker knew._ "Wh-what?"

"You heard me." He stood, letting go of Alex's shirt. "Now, it's about time that we had a little fun with those agents, don't you think?"

"No…" Alex muttered as he watched Walker walk out of the room. "No!" he cried.

Because he knew the kinds of things that Walker would have planned for the agents, and he knew it wouldn't be pretty.

* * *

><p>Gibbs looked around sharply as he headed down the corridor, keeping an eye out for any more Scorpia agents.<p>

The group of four field agents had just fought a group of the agents that had suddenly ambushed them on the corridor, and had managed to come out with minimal injuries. Of course, they had all been injured, but the Scorpia agents were not as trained as the NCIS Field agents had thought they were. Ziva had managed to take down two of them singlehandedly, whilst McGee, Gibbs and Tony fought off the rest as a trio. They had managed to succeed in knocking them all out, and were now looking for Alex's cell.

"Do you think his cell would be down here?" Tony whispered.

"I don't know…" McGee whispered in response. He tapped his mic. "Hey, Andy, do you think you could find him down here?"

They waited for a few seconds for the response, but it didn't come.

"Andy?"

Then it came through. "_Sorry… hear… bad… reception… far… again…_"

They all frowned. They weren't that far underground, meaning that the reception would be clear enough down there. Or it _should_ be clear enough.

Then they realised what had happened.

Something was blocking their signal.

Or, more like some_one_.

"Dammit, McGee," Gibbs growled. "Didn't you hack in well enough?"

"Well, someone must have found our signal and begun tampering with it," he explained.

"We're screwed," Tony muttered. "It's only a matter of time before—"

The lights in the hallway suddenly flickered on, making the flashlights that the agents were using useless. They turned them off, looking around to see what had happened and who had turned the lights on.

There was a slow clapping coming from behind the agents, and they all turned to see a man walking towards them. The piercing eyes and short dark hair didn't take long to click in Gibbs mind, and he growled.

"Walker…"

* * *

><p>Andy sighed as he listened to the agents sneaking down the corridors of the Scorpia compound. He had heard the fight, and had literally jumped around the car celebrating when they had won. "Yes! We're totally going to save Alex!"<p>

He was surprised that no one had heard him and laughed, considering his mic was on and that all four agents had a good sense of humour no matter what situation they were in.

"Hello? Guys?" He tapped the mic and earpiece, frowning when he got no response. It wasn't until they started talking into their mics that he noticed that something was wrong.

Their voices were cracking up.

And they weren't even that far down yet.

He frowned when he tried to understand what they said to him and sighed. "Sorry, guys, but I can't hear you. It's pretty bad. Are you sure there's enough reception on this thing? Maybe you've gone too far… you're going to have to repeat what you said again."

When he got no reply, he began to get really worried. "Guys? Hello?" He tapped his mic again. "You know, I can't hear you from up here… talk louder or something?"

And then all of a sudden he could hear them perfectly again – just in time to hear Gibbs growl.

"_Walker…_"

He froze.

_They'd been caught…_

He quickly looked all over the screen, finding them and the figure that he assumed was Walker. "Dammit…" he muttered, grabbing the small miniature GPS version that McGee had left for him just in case something like this was to happen. He reached over for the gun, putting in a magazine.

He took a deep breath. "Here I go…" he told himself before climbing out of the car.

* * *

><p><strong>Ooooh, another twist! Review, guys!<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello, my loyal readers! It's been a while, hasn't it? About a month and a half? Wow... I don't think I've really left a story like this for this long before! But, luckily, my exams are all finished, so I'm free to write, and I should be getting on to my other stories pretty soon (for those of you who read them, that is).**

**And I bet you guys can't imagine the look of shock on my face when I saw my reviews. 200?! Do you all really love my story that much? Thank you all for your reviews!**

**Now, to compensate for the amount of time I've been gone, I stayed up extra late to finish off this chapter for you all! It's longer than usual (over 4000 words, guys!) and so I hope it will last you until my next update!**

**Sorry if it seems a little rushed...**

**Anyway, enough of my talking. Enjoy the chapter, readers!**

* * *

><p>Walker smiled. "Special Agent Gibbs! How lovely to see you again!"<p>

McGee glanced between Gibbs and Walker. "Do you know him, boss?" he asked slowly.

Gibbs attempted to stare Walker down. "He's an ex-CIA agent that went rogue a few years back. We once had to track him down for killing a Navy Officer… he seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. We thought he was dead."

Walker grinned smugly. "Until now."

Ziva narrowed her eyes at Walker. "I remember my father talking about you. You appeared in Israel at one time."

Walker turned to Ziva and his grin became a small, knowing smile. "Ah… so the Israeli is here…" He slowly walked over to her, keeping his eyes on her figure. "I remember you… the one who attempted to track me down…"

Tony glance at Ziva. "Zi…?"

Ziva just stared at Walker. "Yes… it was me."

"Last I recall, you were just about to shoot me when I jumped."

"You jumped?!" McGee exclaimed. "Where?"

"Out of a hotel window, of course." His gaze snapped over to the least experienced agent. "Do you think I jumped off a cliff?"

McGee blushed. "W-well…"

"How on earth would I survive that, Agent Timothy McGee?"

McGee tensed at the mention of his name. He didn't remember anyone saying his name when Walker was around… "How did you know my name?" he asked.

Walker grinned before looking back at Gibbs. "Oh, so they don't know about my current occupation?" He shook his head and tutted. "Not good, Agent Gibbs. I expected more from you."

Gibbs growled. "You're lucky you're even alive, Walker."

Walker turned and walked slowly to stand in front of Gibbs. "My being alive has nothing to do with luck – it has everything to do with skill." He chuckled sinisterly. "Of course, I know one person who is only alive due to his luck. And you know him too, Major Crime Response Team." He leaned into Gibbs' face. "How about we all go and pay him a little visit?"

Ziva frowned. "What… who do you mean…?" she asked.

Walker signalled for his men to come over from their positions. "Take them to the cell," he commanded, stepping back from the agents. "And make sure our special _guest_ is ready for some visitors."

The men nodded as they grabbed each of the agents and held their arms behind their backs, forcing them along in the direction of the cells.

Walker just smirked at Gibbs as he was hauled past him, feeling triumphant.

He just didn't know that his victory wouldn't last.

* * *

><p>Andy looked around sharply as he tiptoed towards the large industrial compound.<p>

After finally getting the courage to climb out of the car and actually venture into the compound to help the agents, Andy had taken his time trying to get inside the place without being seen. He was still terrified of the men that had taken him and kidnapped him, and so he didn't want to be caught and re-kidnapped like Alex had been.

He snuck across to the front entrance of the warehouse, where he had seen the NCIS agents enter a few hours earlier, sticking close to the walls and keeping an eye out. He couldn't see any of Walker's men patrolling the grounds around the warehouse, so he took it as his cue to sneak inside. He pulled open the wooden double doors and slid inside, looking behind him to see if anyone had seen him before pulling the doors shut.

Once he was inside, he found himself looking around with interest to see if anything had changed since his last 'visit'.

The warehouse was huge, just as it was the last time he saw it, but this time he was actually able to look around and take in everything. The ceilings were high… the floor was dirty… the air smelt musty… there were old boxes to the side filled with old industrial items…

He frowned. There really wasn't anything new that he could take in.

That was, apart from the door about ten metres or so away from him.

The large metal door had caught his eye immediately – it was the same door that he and Alex had been dragged through a few days before when they had been kidnapped, and it was a door that he despised deeply.

In fact, he despised this whole warehouse with a deep passion, but of course, there were many reasons for that.

He crept over to the door and carefully put his hand to the door handle. He knew exactly what to expect, but he still felt a little jumpy as he twisted the handle and pulled on the heavy door. The large, heavy block of metal moved slowly, grinding fairly loudly against the floor, until Andy had opened up a gap large enough for him to fit through. He squeezed through the gap, forcing himself into the darkness.

As soon as he was completely through, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small portable torch. The little light it shed on the dark stairwell was a little more comforting than Andy had expected. He could see a few metres ahead of him, and so was able to see each stair before he had to take it.

He took a deep breath, trying not to cough from all the dust in the air. "Right… here we go…" he muttered to himself before he began his descent into the darkness to save his family and his friend.

* * *

><p>Alex grit his teeth as pain seared up his left leg. It was all he could do to stop himself from crying out and alerting the guards as to what he was doing.<p>

The blonde teen had been left alone in the cell for what felt like days, but in reality had only been about an hour or so. Since he had been returned, none of the guards had even bothered to enter the cell to talk to him, or mock him. Alex could decide whether that was good, because he'd been left alone for the whole day, or bad, because they were probably planning something worse for later.

He was hoping it was the former.

After the pain had subsided a little, the teen went about tying his left knee up in the makeshift bandage he had torn from his tattered shirt. He kept wincing as he wrapped the cloth around his leg, making sure it was tight and secure each time he tied it around his leg before wrapping again. Eventually he finished wrapping his leg and took a deep breath, using the wall to pull himself to his feet.

"Okay…" he smiled weakly and took a deep breath. "Step one, complete." He closed his eyes tightly. He could still feel the pain from his left knee shoot up his leg, even when it was only moving slightly. He dreaded what he was about to do next.

"Here we go," he told himself before putting his injured foot in front of him, his jaw clenched in pain as he began to put weight on it. "Shi…"

The door burst open, and a group of guards stormed in dragging some people in with them.

Alex jumped back in shock to lean against the wall, wincing again when his knee ended up jerking. It caused him to slip and hit the wall harshly.

The guards that had opened the door laughed loudly at the poor boy's pain, walking in leisurely as they dragged something behind them.

Or some_one_.

Alex watched as the guards dragged their prey further into the room before dropping it carelessly on the concrete floor and backing out of the room.

"Have fun with your little friend, Rider," one of the more sinister guards chuckled, spitting at the boy as he walked past and out of the room. The rest of the guard gang followed, laughing at the poor boy and taunting him when they walked past – a couple of them even kicked him on their way.

Alex grunted in pain as he was kicked and taunted, and wiped the droplets of saliva off his face. "Stupid guards…" he muttered as he rubbed just above his injured left knee, trying to get rid of the pain.

"You've got that right."

The blonde's head snapped up to meet a pair of ice blue eyes, and his own dark brown ones widened in shock.

"G…G-Gibbs?"

* * *

><p>He skidded around a corner, trying to avoid being seen. He'd spotted the cameras on his way in, and hoped dearly that he'd managed to avoid every single one of them so that he could get in and out safely. Obviously, he knew that it was very unlikely that he would get away with it, but it was worth a shot.<p>

He panted heavily as he rested against the wall, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. The sprint from the staircase to the corridor had been very long, even though he had trained thoroughly in sports and such. He held his gun tightly in his right hand, not wanting it to fall to the ground and cause a lot of noise. His torch was clutched tightly in his left hand, as he not had the time to slip it into his pocket quite yet.

Once he felt as if he had recovered enough, Andy moved away from the wall and peeked around the corner. Yes, the teen had managed to make it down into the main area of the compound, and he was now on the search for the kidnapped agents and his close friend. And to be quite honest, he had made it quite far – he was in too deep now to give up.

He soon concluded that the coast was clear, and so began moving in the direction of the cells – or rather, the direction that he hoped the cells were in. He stayed close to the walls, keeping his eye out for any guards roaming the area.

Just as he turned left to head down a corridor to a different section of the compound, he spotted a foot on the ground. He froze in his steps, his eyes wide and his heart leaping into his throat. Then he realised the foot wasn't moving, and so calmed down enough to take a couple of steps forward.

It was then that he saw the multiple bodies laying there, sprawled along the corridor. The first thought that came to mind was that Walker had got mad and had taken it out on the guards, but then he realised that the bruises on their cheeks were too small to be a man's hands.

Which brought him to his next conclusion – Ziva was running around freely in the building.

* * *

><p>"So… he got you too?"<p>

Gibbs nodded as he watched Alex re-tie his bandages. The boy looked as if he was in pain as he did so, but the way he tied the bandages looked practiced – as if he'd done it many times before. It unnerved him. "Yeah, he got us. We walked right into his trap."

Alex tied the bandages up with a wince before relaxing, looking up at Gibbs. "He had a trap laid out for you?" he asked. "Did you not take any special measures when you snuck in?"

"He hacked into our feed," Gibbs explained, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. "McGee didn't secure it enough, so he knew what we were saying and where we were."

"Oh." The blonde teen couldn't think of much more to say. Apart from the fact that he was starving and a little thirsty, there was nothing he could talk about to Gibbs.

He was fortunate when Gibbs brought up another topic.

"How tall are you?" he asked suddenly, opening his eyes to look at the teen. His icy blue gaze was piercing.

Alex blinked at the sudden question, frowning suspiciously. "Why…?" he asked hesitantly.

"Just wondering," Gibbs sighed, glancing up at the vent in the top corner of the room. "If you're tall enough, we could reach it."

"It's too high," Alex pointed out after he'd made some mental measurements. "The wall has to be at least, what, eight or nine feet tall? Last time I was measured, I was five foot ten. I'd need to be lifted an extra four feet to reach the vent, and that's whilst standing. Plus, if you hadn't realised, I haven't eaten in days, and I'm dehydrated, plus, my knees aren't exactly in the best condition for standing, let alone crawling through vents. They could get seriously infected."

Gibbs' eyebrows rose. The detailed description of his condition hadn't been expected. "A simple, 'I can't do it,' would have been enough, Alex," he joked, even though he was seriously worried about the boy.

Alex cracked a small smile. "A little excuse is never enough for me."

Gibbs chuckled as he stood and stretched out a little before walking over to the wall with the vent. He looked up towards the vent, measuring his height against the wall. "We need DiNozzo…" he muttered.

Alex frowned. "Tony wouldn't fit through that vent…" he pointed out.

"No, but he's tall enough to lift someone into that vent." He glanced over at Alex. "You're the smallest of us."

"And I'm still too broad to fit in the vent. Andy and I could just about fit into the last vent, and this one looks even smaller." The teen sighed. "The only person that could fit into that vent… would be Ziva."

* * *

><p><em>Oh… shit…<em>

Andy's eyes widened as he turned to sprint down the corridor, away from the guards that had just spotted him and so were trying to catch him. As far as he knew, they thought he was just an intruder and so they were trying to get him and chase him out of the compound – they hadn't seen or recognised his face so they couldn't re-capture him.

As he ran, he could hear the footsteps of the men running behind him, and he began to panic and run faster. He couldn't get caught yet – he just couldn't.

He spotted a sharp turn in the corridor ahead of him and sped up towards the turn, kicking off the wall so that he could move around the sharp corner. A triumphant smirk came upon his features when he heard the men collide with the wall as he made the tactical twist, and he risked a look back at the fallen men.

Five men lay on the ground at the turn, each of them having fallen over each other, with their legs all tangled up and bruises on some of their heads from crashing straight into the wall.

He was so busy laughing at the men that he didn't realise he was running straight towards someone until they collided, causing them to knock heads and fall to the ground in an ungraceful heap.

"Ow…" Andy groaned, rubbing his forehead when he felt it begin to throb. He could feel his lip begin to swell, and his tongue tasted of blood. "Great… a split lip _and_ I bit my tongue."

The person he had collided with groaned and sat up, rubbing their chin. "That's going to leave a bruise…" he muttered.

Andy's head snapped up at the familiar voice, and a huge grin spread across his features. "Tony!"

The senior field agent frowned. "Andy?" His frown deepened. "What are you doing here? You're meant to be in the car!"

"You all got captured." At Tony's disbelieving look, he sighed. "What, am I just meant to sit back and watch whilst you all get kidnapped and held at gunpoint?" Andy asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, come on!"

"Andy, you could get killed."

Andy glared at Tony as he stood. "Need I remind you that I've faced that problem before, and I'm still here," he growled before walking past Tony.

Tony frowned. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To find Ziva. She's running around freely in this compound and, frankly, she's the only one who's going to support me in my decision to help you guys get out of here." And with that, the teen stormed off, leaving Tony to stumble after him in an attempt to show that he would be supporting him as well.

* * *

><p>Ziva breathed heavily as she came to a stop.<p>

She was in a corridor full of holding cells, and she had a feeling that McGee was being held in one of them. The corridor between the cells wasn't that large, but she was sure that if she lay on the floor across the corridor there'd still be space between her feet and the wall.

As she moved slowly through the corridor, she kept her eyes sharp for any movements and listened out for any noises that would give her a hint as to where McGee might have been. So far, she could see nothing move, and all she could hear were her echoing footsteps that surely shouldn't have been that loud.

As she passed one of the cells in the middle of the corridor, she heard a scuffing behind the door to the room. Her eyes widened and she put her hand to the door handle, hoping it would easily open. It was then that she saw the pass-code right by the door, and silently cursed in Hebrew.

She peered closely at the pad on the wall, looking for fingerprints. She could see that the button for the number 5 was the most worn and had quite a bit of grease and residue on it, meaning that it was most likely the first key that was pressed every time the code was entered. She made a mental note of that before looking at the other numbers on the keypad.

There was one specific thing that bothered her as she tried to work out which other numbers were involved in the password – she didn't know how long the code was. Not only was there a combination of numbers, but the numbers were put into a code of a specific length that she had no idea how long.

She had just worked out that the number '7' was also involved in the password when she heard footsteps rounding the corner. She tensed and sprinted to a hiding area behind a wall and peeked out to see one of Walker's men walking towards the cell she had been trying to break into, holding a tray of what looked like stale bread and a bottle of water.

She watched the man from behind the wall, counting how many times he pressed a button and which numbers he pressed.

5…

3…

8…

7…

9.

There was a small buzz and a green flash of light, and the door unlocked, allowing the guard to push down the door handle and walk into the cell. He was in the room for a few minutes before he exited again, shutting the door behind him. He entered another code into the pad – one that Ziva didn't bother watching – and waited for the green light to appear again before walking away, holding nothing.

Ziva waited behind the wall, making sure the coast was completely clear, before sneaking out of her spot and over to the door, looking at the pad. She covered her hand with her sleeve before bringing her hand up to the pad.

5… 3… 8… 7… 9… enter.

_Click_.

A little green light flashed, and Ziva was able to push down the handle and open the door to the cell.

She only just about dodged the punch that came flying her way as soon as the door was pushed open. "Woah!" She looked up. "McGee!"

The less experienced agent blushed from embarrassment. "Sorry…" he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I… I thought…"

"Yes, yes; you thought I was a guard and you were hoping to ambush him and escaped." She waved away his apology. "Forget about it. We should get moving." She turned to head out of the room.

"Wait!"

She stopped. "Yes?"

"I think Alex is on this corridor," McGee explained. "I was brought down with Gibbs… and I heard the guards talking about 'some kid'."

She looked down each end of the corridor. "So, you are saying that Alex is behind one of these doors? As is Gibbs?"

McGee nodded, following her out into the corridor. He then followed her gaze down the corridor, and his jaw dropped.

"McGee, if you hadn't noticed, this is quite a long corridor, with many doors. I am not sure I want to risk wasting my time looking for them when we know that Gibbs is perfectly capable of getting Alex out on his own."

"But what if he isn't?" He turned to Ziva. "What if we're so close to finding them, and then we just walk away and leave them to suffer? How would you feel if you found out that someone did that to you?"

Ziva huffed. He had her there. "Fine. We will check the cells." She headed off towards one end of the corridor. "Listen out for any sounds of people moving in the rooms – once we are able to narrow it down, then we can break in."

McGee nodded and was about to get to work when an idea stopped him. "And… how exactly will we break into the rooms?" he asked her.

"That is easy – I know the pass code."

"You do?"

"McGee, how else would I have gotten you out of that cell, hmmm?"

* * *

><p>Gibbs sighed as he sat in the cell, staring at the wall ahead of him. There was no way that he and Alex could get out of the cell – the vent, as Alex had pointed out before, was too high for them to reach, the door seemed to be bolted and locked from the outside, and Alex was too injured to even stand, let alone walk. Any escape plan that came to mind was immediately dashed by the harsh reality of their situation.<p>

Alex sat opposite him, his eyes closed as he attempted to regain what little energy he could after only drinking water and having no food for the past few days. The teen was beginning to feel incredibly weak, and it was only made worse by the blood loss he was suffering.

The room was silent – deathly silent. Neither of the males made a noise – either because it required too much valuable energy or because there was really no point in speaking when no one was going to talk back to you.

Despite the fact that Gibbs was a man of few words, he had lived around chaos for long enough and had grown to appreciate it – right down to the random broken objects that Andy and Jessie left around the house.

_Jessie…_ She was probably staying with Abby at that moment, having slumber parties and doing things of the sort. He had been so focused on Andy and Alex that he had almost forgotten about his daughter. He hadn't even called her just before they got into the compound…

As he pondered on these thoughts, the sound of faint footsteps could be heard outside in the corridor. They were two sets of footsteps, one distinctly light than the other, and the people that they belonged to seemed to have a heated conversation before beginning to move away from the door.

Gibbs was beginning to think that they were just guards playing a prank on them when there was a knock on the cell door.

"_Hello?_"

Both males in the cell's eyes widened – they both recognised that voice – and they glanced at each other before Gibbs spoke.

"McGee?" he called out.

"_Boss! Ziva, he's in here!_"

A huge smile appeared on Gibbs' face as he heard the tapping of fingers on a keypad, and then a click. The door was pushed open.

"Gibbs!"

* * *

><p>Andy followed Tony through the compound, taking the many different twists and turns that the corridor caused.<p>

The two were now as far away from the bad guys as they could be – or that's what they believed – and so were now running through the compound, looking for the others. They didn't know that the group had in fact now gathered down in Gibbs and Alex's room, and were now plotting how to find the Tony and get Alex out of the compound without being seen.

These two were heading for the surface themselves, and so Tony had Andy's gun just in case they got ambushed.

"How far are we?" Tony asked Andy, risking a glance back at he boy.

Andy looked down at the portable device he'd brought from the car. "Not too far…" he muttered. "Just a little further, and we should reach the main lobby area of the basement. From there it's pretty easy to get to the stairs."

Tony nodded before heading ahead himself, not looking behind to see if Andy was following. He trusted the boy enough to know that he was following.

It was a few minutes later that they reached the lobby area that Andy had been talking about, and deep down Tony knew he should have been expecting what he saw.

The lobby had four different corridors leading off it – one of which led to the stairs, another led towards an area of cells. A third one led off to the control rooms, where all of the cameras were monitored, and the fourth one had been the corridor Andy and Tony had emerged from.

The only problem was, there were guards standing in front of the corridors to the control room and to the staircase leading to freedom.

And Walker stood at the front of them all.

* * *

><p><strong>Oooooh... I just love giving you cliff hangers. :D<strong>

**Review!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey, readers! I know, I promised I'd be updating sooner... but I lied. My writing muse hasn't been coming as easily as I thought it would come, so my writing is quite slow again. It's not the school's fault anymore - it's my muse.**

**Anyway, I have your next chapter here for you guys to read! I hope you enjoy it! I apologise for it not being as long as it should be (or as it _could_ be), but I finally managed to get something what I consider to be quite good for someone on a low muse.**

**So... enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em>Clap… clap… clap…<em>

The sound echoed through the corridors as Walker mockingly clapped Andy and Tony for their efforts, slowly walking towards the two. His feet were just as loud as his hands as he neared the two threateningly, his smile mocking.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?" he asked rhetorically. He stopped clapping as his face lost all traces of humour. "Have we got a couple of freed prisoners?"

Andy gulped. _Surely he didn't remember him… surely…_

"Oh wait, hasn't one of them already escaped?" Walker walked towards Andy. "And he has come back to visit? How thoughtful."

Andy cringed. _Well, there go any hopeful thoughts…_

Tony glared at Walker darkly. "Just let us go, Walker."

Walker chuckled darkly. "Now, now… why would I _ever_ do that to you two?" he snarled. "You're my little prisoners. I would never let you go."

"You have no use for us, Walker," Tony argued. "There's no point in keeping us here. You'll never get what you want."

"And that is where you're wrong, Agent DiNozzo." The villain began to pace around the two males, his hands behind his back. He knew they wouldn't do anything – his guards had working weapons and surrounded them, and had been given the orders to shoot to seriously injure as soon as either of them so much as flinched in his direction. "You see, my mission was not only to retrieve the memory stick from Mr Rider, as you must have worked out already."

Tony's eyebrow rose at this, and he glanced at Andy.

The teen, on the other hand, had a guilty expression on his face. He should have known that this was about Alex. He was in their care – of course this would all be about him. And now he couldn't even find him.

"My mission, boys, was to also make the teen suffer for _everything_ he did to Scorpia – every single thing that he did that destroyed the corporation, he must pay for. And how will we make him pay?" Walker leaned close to Andy's ear as he stopped by him, grinning. "We hurt his friends."

Andy tensed, his breath hitching. _He was going to hurt him…_ "I-I'm not his friend…" he muttered, trying to glare at Walker.

Walker's eyebrows rose. "You… aren't?" he asked in confusion.

"Nope." Andy suddenly turned to kick him in the shin. "I'm like his _brother_," he snarled.

Tony smirked as the other men began to move forward for the attack. "Dude – you don't mess with a guy's _brother_!" He held up his fists. "Let's get this party started…"

* * *

><p>Alex grunted as he was shifted on the back of the person who was carrying, causing his knees to jerk slightly. "Ow..."<p>

"Sorry," McGee apologised as she continued to carry Alex. "It's just a little uncomfortable for me..."

"That's alright," Alex muttered.

The group, now made up of Alex, Gibbs, McGee and Ziva, had managed to escape from the cells and were trying to head towards the exit. From what Ziva had told them, Tony would most likely be heading in that direction anyway, so they'd be able to come together as a team and stay safe.

At least, that's what they hoped.

"How much further?" McGee groaned.

"Not much," Ziva told him. On her escape through the compound, she'd seen the exit. She'd traced her way back, and so the group were heading in the right direction.

Alex sighed as he rested his chin on McGee's head. "How much further?" he whined childishly, feeling exhausted. He'd barely eaten in days, and the excitement of finally getting out of that place was wearing him out.

"Not much," Ziva told him.

Gibbs walked at the back of the group, keeping an eye out for any ambushes from behind. "And how far do you mean by 'not much'?" he questioned her further.

"We should just have a couple of turns left before we reach the final area before the exit," she explained as she led the way. "It should not be too far… and we would get there quicker if McGee would just hurry up."

McGee grunted. "Well, I'm sorry if I have to carry an injured person on my back. May I also point out that this is an injured person that _can't walk_?"

Alex blushed. "Jeez, tell that to the whole world, why don't you?" he grumbled sourly.

McGee sighed. "Sorry, Alex…" He shifted Alex on his back once again. "You're so bony…" he groaned.

"Quit whining, Tim," Gibbs grumbled. "We'll get there eventually."

Ziva nodded. "Yes… we are not too far from the exit, actually. Just this one last turn, and then…" she trailed off with wide eyes as she stopped, causing McGee to bump into her.

"And then what?" Alex asked with a frown.

Gibbs frowned as well as he moved to the front beside Ziva and poked his head around the corner, exactly where she was looking. He silently cursed at what he saw.

McGee frowned. "What's wrong?"

"We have… company at the exit…"

"It's not just at the exit," a voice said from behind them.

The four turned to see a group of men holding up guns at them, forcing them to move to where the others were.

"Boss! We've found the others!"

"_Shit_," Alex muttered under his breath.

* * *

><p>Andy grunted as he was shoved against the wall, a gun pointed straight at his head.<p>

"You little brat!" the guard snarled, nearly spitting all over the poor boy.

Andy just shrugged, trying to wriggle out of the man's iron grip. "Oh please – he asked for it."

Tony struggled from where he was being restrained. "Don't push your luck, Andy!"

Walker smirked as he walked towards Andy and the guard that was holding him up against the wall. "Yes… listen to the man. You wouldn't want to _die_, now, would you?" He carefully twirled the gun in his hands, looking rather threatening.

Andy gulped. He didn't want to die yet. He had a life to live. He had to become a marine, and get married, and have a family…

"_Boss! We've found the others!"_

_The others…?_ Andy tensed. _Oh shit…_

Walker turned towards the voice. "Bring them to me!" After a little while of waiting, he looked over at the agents that had been forced over, smiling manically. "Perfect! More friends!" He noticed the glare he received from Alex and chuckled. "Why, hello there, old friend!"

"You're no friend," Alex snarled from his position on McGee's back, blatantly ignoring the guns that were raised against him.

"Am I not?" Walker asked with faux-innocence. "Well, that's a shame. See, if we were friends, I may have let you all go free… but I suppose I can't do that now." He sighed. "I suppose I'll also have to make you pay for all the damages you caused—"

"How much?" Andy asked, barely resisting a smirk due to his split lip.

Walker glared at him. "No one likes a smart-mouth."

"No one likes a villain either," Alex pointed out, "yet, here you are. Being all villain-like."

"Shut up," Walker snarled, glaring between the two teens.

Alex and Andy sent each other triumphant grins.

"Look, Walker," Tony started, holding his hands up in surrender so that the men didn't attack him. "How about we all calm down, and have a talk. Then you can let us go without a hitch, and we can all be happy."

Walker glared at Tony in disbelief. "What are you, stupid? I'd never do that!"

"NCIS doesn't deal with terrorists," Gibbs added helpfully.

"Exactly!" Walker exclaimed.

"We shoot them dead instead."

The glare that Walker shot the older man was terrifying. "Frankly, I'd _love_ to see you try, Special Agent Gibbs, but as you can see, you are outnumbered," he signalled to the men all standing around him, "by at least five-to-one."

Ziva looked between all of the men. Walker was right. There were at least five times more men than there were agents, and that included Alex and Andy. Alex was unable to fight, meaning that they had to fight even more men. The possibility of them escaping alive was getting slimmer and slimmer…

Even McGee looked quite hopeless. He, being the least experienced of the agents, wouldn't be able to fight off as many men, and so that would put even more pressure on people such as Ziva and Gibbs.

Alex, despite being a former agent, was in no condition to fight. If he was able to, the group may have had some more hope or even a chance of escaping without a battle. But he was injure. He was out of the fight.

And then there was Andy, the younger and less experienced teen. He could shoot a gun – and pretty accurately, may I add – but he'd never really shot a person dead in his life. Something like that would mentally scar the teen.

They wouldn't be able to get out safely. Not at all.

But they had to.

Tony and Gibbs shared a glance, and that's when everything clicked.

They weren't going down without a fight.

Like _hell_ they would.

"Incoming!" Tony suddenly threw the gun that he'd taken from Andy, aiming it straight for one of the guards' heads and grinning when it collided with a satisfying _crack_, knocking the guard straight out.

Ziva immediately got what he was doing and swung her fist, crushing a guard's nose and sending him down. She then pulled out his gun and aimed it at a few guards running at her, shooting them all down consecutively. _Bang. Bang. Bang._

McGee placed Alex down in a corner, keeping him out of the fight and away from any danger. It would prevent him from having to get up and move his still injured and bleeding knees. The adult then headed straight into the fight, using his fists as much as he could and the occasional gun when he could get his hands on one.

Gibbs had found a gun as soon as he had been able to, and was standing with Andy, both of them fighting to keep each other safe. Whilst Gibbs was shooting at the guards, getting them in the knee or the arm to render them useless in a fight, Andy kept with his warning shots, shooting right by the guards' feet to stop them from getting any closer to him. Occasionally, the teen got someone's foot, which was why there was a high number of guards clutching their feet and yelling in pain in his direction whilst in Gibbs' they had all fallen to the floor.

Alex watched helplessly from the sidelines, wishing he could do something to help. He grit his teeth before making his decision and pulling himself up slowly, using the wall as leverage. Once he got to his feet, he began to move slowly and painfully, heading straight for the nearest man without alerting him to his presence. As soon as he reached him, he began to grapple with him, slowly suffocating him by wrapping his arms around his neck whilst he looked desperately for a pressure point to knock him out.

Andy spotted Alex from where he was shooting at the feet of the men heading for him and noticed the guard coming up behind him. "Alex! Behind you!"

As if on cue, Alex brought up his elbow behind him with force, crushing the nose of the guy and knocking him backwards. At the same time, he managed to find the pressure point of the man he had been grappling, and the two sunk to the floor in a heap.

Ziva kicked the knee of one of the men she was fighting, smirking when she heard a loud snap and the man crumpled to the floor in pain. Without hesitation she moved onto the next, crushing his nose with the heel of her palm before knocking him to the floor. Somewhere during her battle she found herself back to back with Tony, the two fighting like an experienced, synchronised pair. Which they were.

Andy and Gibbs stayed back to back, fighting together as father and son. Both of them used guns, theirs being the only gunshots ringing out throughout the whole room for the agents.

_Fwoosh._

Andy ducked as a bullet flew at his head, narrowly missing his ear. "Dammit!" he growled before shooting at the man's knee, knocking him down. He didn't want to shoot to kill, but just getting their knees didn't stop them from attacking him again. And getting their feet didn't make it any better either.

Gibbs spared a glance at Andy. "You alright?" he asked worriedly. He didn't want anything to happen to his boy.

Andy nodded. "Yeah… I'm good." He smiled weakly. "Just a near-death experience – nothing to worry about."

Gibbs chuckled as he began shooting again, shaking his head at the boy. "Only you, Andy… only you…"

McGee, luckily, was looking towards Andy when a man began to advance on the teen. "Andy – look out!" He turned back to focus on his enemy so that he didn't get killed.

Andy turned and spotted the guy, raising it and aiming it at the man's knee.

_Click._

He frowned.

_Click, click._

"I'm out of ammo!" he called out as he hurled his gun at the man racing towards him, catching him straight in the forehead and knocking him out.

It seemed as if Alex was the only one to hear his cry, because it was the blonde that suddenly found himself scrambling on the floor for a gun – despite his severely injured knees. The adrenaline was really pumping through his blood, masking every injury that he'd gained.

Andy was forced to resign to hand-to-hand combat, taking on any remaining guards one by one. It was difficult, but whatever little training that Ziva had given him was definitely coming in handy.

Tony's eyes widened when he spotted another man advancing on Andy from behind, holding up a gun and getting ready to shoot. "Andy! Look out!"

The brunette teen turned just in time to avoid the bullet hitting his head, but the piece of metal still met its target. He cried out as it was embedded in his shoulder.

The guard grinned triumphantly, moving forward to finish his kill, when he was stopped abruptly by a hole in his forehead.

Andy turned to see Gibbs standing behind him, lowering the arm holding the gun as his icy blue eyes glared down at the dead body. "Thanks, dad."

"No problem."

Walker growled from where he stood, watching the fight go on. He didn't like losing – he hated to lose. It was a common trait of those trained by Scorpia. If they lost, they would get revenge.

But Walker was tired of getting revenge.

He needed it now.

He grabbed a gun from one of his men's holsters, not caring that he'd left the man without anything to defend himself, and suddenly began to charge at Andy from the other side of the room. He barged through all of the men, aiming for the one thing that Alex Rider definitely cared about in that room.

"Andy!" Alex yelled when he spotted Walker running towards him. He wasn't going to let his friend die… not this one… not this time…

Andy looked over his shoulder to see Walker racing towards him. He had no guards to fight, but he was weapon-less, and the man he had to go up against had a gun. "I need ammo!" he called out, looking around to see if he could find a loose gun anywhere. But none of the guards around him had guns.

_So useful…_ the teen thought sourly.

Ziva ran and slid across the floor in Walker's path, tripping the man up and causing his gun to slide across the floor towards the blonde teen. She kicked Walker as she passed him, causing him to cry out in pain and clutch his shin in agony.

McGee and Tony raced towards Alex as the teen started his painful race to the gun, fighting off any guards that would get in his way.

"Alex!" Andy called out as he turned to run. Walker was beginning to rise again, and this time the man looked like he would kill Andy no matter what it took.

Alex finally managed to grab the gun from the floor and he tossed it towards Andy, hoping that he would catch the gun get the shot off before Walker got to him. "Don't miss!" he yelled.

Andy swivelled and caught the gun in mid turn, holding it up and pointing it at Walker just as the man decided to charge at him furiously. His finger pressed on the trigger…

_Bang._

…

Walker crumpled to the floor, a hole in his chest.

…

_Exactly where his heart was._

…

Everything froze – it was as if the world had stopped. Every person in that room turned to stare at the now dead man on the floor, some glancing up at the teen who seemed to be stuck pointing the gun in his hand in the direction the villain had been coming from. Walker's men looked frightened, each of them stepping away from Andy or putting their guns on the ground to show their surrender.

Then the gun in Andy's hands dropped, and the brunette paled considerably, starting to shake. What he'd just done… he'd never done before in his life.

"A-Andy?" Tony asked warily, stepping closer to the teen.

But he was lost for words. He couldn't say anything. His throat was dry, closed up – it refused to form words.

And that's when Alex collapsed.

* * *

><p><strong>Oops... another cliffhanger.<strong>

**Haha...**

**Review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey, guys! It's been too long - I know, and I'm very sorry for that! It's just that school has really been getting in the way of my writing, recently, and I've been working hard to keep on top of my studies. But I have your next chapter for you now! And I promise that this story is ending soon - just a couple more chapters, okay? Hopefully it won't take me as long to update them!**

**So... enjoy! ^_^**

* * *

><p><em>Beep.<em>

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep…_

Alex could register the sound of a machine in the background, registering his heartbeat and recording it for later readings.

_What's that thing called again…?_

_An… ECG…?_

The blonde teen groggily opened his eyes, his brown orbs fluttering before landing on the source of the noise. A heart monitor stood beside his bed, recording his heartbeat using the various wires attached to his chest. Not only that, but he had an IV in his arm, administering the painkiller that was stopping him from feeling… whatever pain he would usually feel. And he had no idea what he was meant to be feeling at that moment, so it was doing its job.

The blonde tried to sit up on the bed, feeling quite weak. He knew where he was now – the ECG meant that he could only be in a hospital, although he wasn't too sure how he had ended up there, because he didn't remember a thing. He tried to think back to what had happened to see if he could get a vague idea… but…

Nothing.

"You're up, huh?"

Alex turned his head, and realised that there was a faint scent of coffee in the room… black, probably. Because, by the sound of that voice, only one person could be visiting him.

He smiled weakly at the visitor. "Hey, Gibbs."

The silver-haired man smiled a little at the blonde teen, getting up from his chair on the far side of the room to sit in between the two beds that were in the room. Well, Alex had only just noticed that there were two beds in the room – he hadn't really looked over at the other bed yet.

"How are you doing?" he asked the blonde teen, turning the chair so that he was fully facing him.

Alex took a few moments to think about how to answer that question. How _was_ he feeling? A little light-headed, yes, but other than that… he didn't really know.

"Uh… alright, I suppose," he muttered, his voice a little hoarse from the lack of use.

Gibbs nodded slowly, sipping on his coffee. "Good." He looked down the bed at Alex's knees. "How are your knees?" he asked.

Alex looked down and noticed how his knees were bandaged up securely. He knew he should have been feeling pain – he remembered how his knees ended up like this now – but all he felt was a dull throb. "It doesn't feel painful," he muttered. "Just… just a dull throb…"

The older man nodded. "Those painkillers are working miracles, aren't they?"

"How did they fix them?"

Gibbs frowned at the blonde teen. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"How did they fix my knees?" Alex asked again, staring down at them. The last he remembered, they were mangled, and he had been barely able to walk on them.

"Operation," Gibbs stated. "Your ligaments were torn, so they stitched them back up for ya."

"Really? I must thank them."

Gibbs chuckled, smiling at the teen.

To be honest, this was the first time that Gibbs was seeing the teenage boy relaxed. Ever since he had taken him in, he had been on edge – even if he didn't remember anything that had happened, he was wary of everyone and everything, like it was an instinct. But now, even in hospital, he was just laying there, making dry jokes and resting.

It was actually a little strange.

"Yeah, well, you won't be using those legs for at least a few weeks. Maybe even a couple of months. Those ligaments need to heal completely before you can even think about walking."

Alex looked over at the bed beside his, over Gibbs' shoulder, and paled slightly at what he saw.

On the bed behind Gibbs, Andrew – his friend – lay unconscious.

Fortunately, the brunette seemed to be better off than Alex was. He clearly wasn't as pale as Alex, although he still seemed to be slightly malnourished, and he only seemed to have a bandage around the shoulder that had been shot. Other than that, he seemed perfectly fine. Which was good – Alex would never have forgiven himself if Andy was hurt.

"What about Andy?" the blonde asked Gibbs, his brown orbs filled with curiosity. Was there anything else about him that was wrong, other than what he could see?

"Oh, he's fine," Gibbs told him, taking another sip of his coffee. "Just a bullet wound to the shoulder. Nothing too serious."

Alex nodded.

"Yeah…" came a croaky voice. "Nothing… nothing too serious…"

Alex grinned. "Andy!" he exclaimed, before his throat became extremely dry and he began to cough. He needed something to drink.

Gibbs reached over for the cup of water that had been left for Alex and held it out to the boy, putting the straw in his mouth for him.

Alex drank greedily, feeling incredibly thirsty.

Andy whined a little. "Dad… where's mine…?"

Gibbs sighed, rolling his eyes at his son before putting his coffee down and picking up Andy's cup for him. He also helped him to drink from his cup, essentially multitasking so that both boys could drink.

Both boys stopped drinking at the same time, taking deep breaths as they leaned back into their pillows.

Gibbs just shook his head and placed their cups down on the table. "You two… can be impossible."

The boys just grinned. "Thanks," they said in unison.

Gibbs chuckled.

* * *

><p>The boys weren't actually kept in the hospital for that long – only a couple of nights after they had woken up, and then they were allowed to leave. It was awesome. Andy had even planned out a couple of things for them to do when they got back to the Gibbs residence, such as video games and days out with his mates to the park, and he was really looking forward to getting back home and just hanging out with his friend.<p>

And then the news came.

Tony walked into the room, right in the middle of the boys' conversation.

"Hey, Al, how are you doing?" he greeted cheerfully – almost too cheerfully. It was enough to make Alex suspicious.

"Hey…" he started slowly. He wasn't exactly sure how to respond to Tony's question, so he just shrugged a little. "Why do you want to know…?" he asked curiously.

Tony shrugged as he moved to sit on the chair in between the two beds. "I just do." He leaned back in the chair, ignoring the confused look that Andy gave him. "Hey, remember yesterday, when you gave us that information about yourself?" he asked.

Alex frowned. Of course he remembered. It was only yesterday – his short-term memory wasn't _that_ short. "Yeah… why?"

"Well, we've found them."

It was Andy's turn to talk. "You've found who?" he asked in confusion, a deep frown on his face. He hadn't been awake when Alex and Tony had had their 'conversation', so he didn't know what they were on about.

Alex's eyes lit up momentarily. "You… you've found them?" he asked, a smile creeping onto his face.

Tony nodded. "Yup."

"Who have you found?" Andy demanded, hating the fact that he was being left out. He hated being left out.

"My parents," Alex answered, smiling widely. "My adoptive parents. The team found them." He was actually kind of excited. "I get to go home."

Andy's face dropped slightly, and he deflated a little. He had been so excited about getting home and just hanging out with his friend that he had completely forgotten that he had a family to return to. A family that was probably missing him loads.

Alex noticed how his face dropped, and his smile faded slightly. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed his family, and now that there was a chance to go back, he'd completely disregarded Andrew – the guy that was now one of his closest friends. He felt incredibly guilty for what he did. "Andy…"

"Don't worry about it, Al." He managed a small smile. "You miss your family – I understand."

Alex just looked down, still feeling guilty. "Okay."

Tony noticed the slight tension between the two, but managed to resist sighing. "So, Al, as soon as you get out, your family should be ready to meet you again."

Alex merely nodded, and Tony took that as his cue to leave the room.

The two boys sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to say to each other, before Andy slowly began to get up.

"I'm heading down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat," he muttered half-heartedly. "You want anything?"

Alex just shook his head. "No thanks," he replied shortly.

Andy nodded and left the room.

Alex sighed.

Now this was getting _too_ awkward.

* * *

><p>"Want a coffee?"<p>

The young woman – well, she was still a teenager – looked up at the young brunette man before shaking her head. "No thank you," she replied softly. She had a mix of an accent – it was definitely British, but there was a hint of Californian in there, as if she'd lived in that state for quite a while now, but not so long as to have adopted the accent altogether. She wasn't too tall, with dark hair and bright blue eyes, and freckles across her cheeks.

McGee nodded, heading over to where her parents sat not too far from her, seemingly discussing something. "Coffee anyone?" he asked politely.

The woman shook her head. She was a rather plump woman, with dark hair – like her daughter – and blue eyes – also like her daughter's. She had very faint freckles on her face, and had crinkles around her eyes and the corners of her mouth that showed she was a woman that smiled often. "No thank you," she answered politely, smiling up at McGee.

The man, on the other hand, contemplated the coffee. It was clear to see that the girl was his daughter – she looked a lot like her mother, but she also looked a lot like her father. He had hair that had started greying quite a while ago, clearly, and blue eyes that weren't as blue as his wife's and daughter's. His face was weary, as if he had been through a lot, and to be honest, in the past couple of years, he actually _had_. But you wouldn't know that unless you actually knew him, or was with him at the times those events happened. "Coffee sounds good."

McGee nodded. "Yes, sir." He turned to head off to get the coffee.

The teenage girl looked over at her parents, and didn't speak until McGee had definitely left the room. "When is he getting back?" she asked softly.

Her mother glanced over at her. "Hopefully soon, sweetheart," she told her daughter calmly, smiling softly in an attempt to comfort her.

Just outside the door to the room, and dark haired woman that went by the name of Abigail Sciuto stood, watching the small family with curiosity in her eyes. "Is that the family?"

The male beside her nodded, his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, that's them."

Abby sighed. "Tony… does this mean…?"

Tony nodded. "Yep, Alex is going."

"When he gets out of the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"And he's getting out today?"

"Uh-huh."

Her lower lip quivered as she thought about Alex leaving. She had grown close to him during his stay with the team – they all had – but Abby was the one that dealt the hardest with loss. So it was going to be the most difficult for her to say goodbye to Alex. "Tony…"

Tony sighed. "Look, Abby." He turned her so that they were facing each other. "None of us want him to go. We're all gonna miss the sneaky fella. But he has a _family_. One that misses him a lot."

Abby sniffled slightly. "So we have to let him go?" she asked softly.

Tony nodded.

Abby took a deep breath. "Okay… okay." She forced a smile onto her face. "Are they… on their way?"

"Tony nodded. "Yep. On their way."

* * *

><p>Alex sighed as he sat in the back of the car, staring out of the window. It was silent in the car – it was Gibbs' car – but it wasn't a comfortable silence. He sat in the seat behind the passenger seat, his knees all wrapped up so that he couldn't use them at all. His wheelchair was in the boot, so that he would be able to use it for the next half a year or so whilst his knees healed. He wore a pair of shorts so that his knees weren't covered, with a t-shirt and a hoodie over the top.<p>

Andy sat behind the driver's seat, his arm in a sling so that he wouldn't move his shoulders too much. He was silent, not wanting to speak to Alex, as he stared out of the other window. He seemed to be too busy staring into space to realise that there were people watching him – either that, or he just didn't care.

Jessie, Andy's little sister, sat in between the two, since they obviously didn't want to sit next to each other. She, unlike the two boys, had no injuries – she was only there for the company, since there was no one able to take care of her. She tapped quietly on her lap in an effort to get rid of the awkward silence.

Gibbs stared straight ahead as he drove, not exactly sure whether he was looking forward to Alex leaving them or not – in one way, it meant that he had one less teen to take care of, but it also meant that Andy could be losing a close friend. And the boys had been through so much together… they couldn't stop being friends now.

Within about ten or so minutes, the group had arrived at the Navy Yard, and Gibbs pulled up into his regular spot.

"Right, we're here."

Andy opened his door, not bothering to wait for Gibbs to tell them to get out, and shut the door behind him, right in Jessie's face.

Jessica frowned. "Hey!" she yelped, hitting her fist on the window. "Idiot!"

Gibbs just sighed and got out of the car himself, stopping Andy before he could storm off. "Hey."

Andy stopped, avoiding looking at Gibbs. "What?"

"What's the matter with you?" Gibbs demanded with a frown. "What's going on, Andrew?"

"It's nothing."

"Andy…"

"It's nothing!" He pushed his father away, looking up at Gibbs. "Honestly, dad. It's… it's nothing." He turned and walked towards the building, his good arm in his pocket.

Gibbs watched after him for a few moments before sighing and heading over to the boot, opening it to get out Alex's wheelchair. "Jess! Come and help me with this!"

Jessica jumped out of the car. "Yes, daddy!"

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><p>Ziva looked up when she heard someone enter the bullpen. She wasn't expecting anyone to arrive for another few minutes – or at least until Gibbs called to tell them that he had arrived. That was when she would go and tell the family that Alex was there. So she was pretty surprised to see Andy entering the bullpen on his own, a small scowl on his face.<p>

"Andrew? What is wrong?"

Andy looked up at Ziva when she spoke, and his scowl softened. "Oh, hey Ziva."

"You did not answer my question."

He sat down at Gibbs' desk, sighing softly.

The two were in silence for a few moments before Andy spoke.

"Ziva…?"

"Yes, Andy?"

He looked up at her with slight tears in his eyes. "I don't want him to leave."

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><p><strong>So, review!<strong>


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi, guys! It's been ages, I know, and I'm really sorry for that! But I have your next (and final) chapter for you! I hope you enjoy it! The epilogue should be posted as soon as possible, hopefully! ^_^**

**Oh, and don't forget to follow our Fanfiction account on tumblr: the URL is theneedlesslobsters!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Ziva frowned slightly at Andy, trying to understand what he was saying. "I am sorry, what?"<p>

"I… Alex…" He sighed. "I don't want Alex to leave. I mean… he's one of my closest friends… and I don't want him to just… go."

Ziva just stared at Andy in slight shock. Not once, since his leaving had been mentioned to the boys, had Andrew said anything about not wanting him to leave. Had he done so, maybe Gibbs would have tried to sort it out, but now… it was probably too late to do anything about it.

Andy stared back at Ziva, waiting for her to answer him. He was stuck, and didn't know what to do – she was the only person he could think of going to for help. But, by the way she was staring at him, he felt like shifting on his feet awkwardly. The only problem was, when he shifted awkwardly, he tended to shrug his shoulders and stuff, but he couldn't do that when one of them was in a sling.

It took a few minutes for Ziva to come back to the current situation, and she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, uh… I am not quite sure what to say," she admitted to Andy – something that he had definitely not wanted to hear.

He visibly deflated, slumping down into the seat at Tony's desk and running a hand over his face. Now he really _was_ stuck. He didn't want Alex to go, but now he was going and there was nothing he could do about it. "I just… I wish I could have thought about that before… just… pushing him away," he mumbled quietly.

"Ah, so you are a… what do you call it… a _pusher_?" Ziva asked him curiously.

Andy frowned at her. "What?" he asked, sitting up more fully so that he could pay more attention to her.

"You push people away when you are angry or upset," she clarified. "It is something that Gibbs does as well. Tony just does not tell anyone, and McGee always tells Abby, who tells me."

Andy just listened to her quietly. He hadn't noticed that he did that… did he get it from his dad? Well, not just Gibbs, but his real dad as well? "I do…?"

She nodded. "Yes, you do. But, it is funny, because the one way to get rid of the pain or the anger is to tell somebody how you feel. It is the only way that other people will know how you are feeling, and so that is the way that problems are solved."

Andy blinked as he listened to her. He didn't get her point. "What's your point, Ziva?" he asked her with a frown.

"My point is, you should tell him, or he will never find out how you feel about him leaving." Ziva stood and moved so that she was sitting on the edge of Tony's desk, watching Andy. "You should do it, Andrew. Say goodbye to him, and tell him. I believe Tony told me that Alex felt upset when you stopped talking to him, so you should start again.

Andy looked down at his lap as he thought. Ziva was right. He should tell Alex before he lost the change to tell him…

"Thanks, Ziva," he said as he got up. He was just about to head out of the bullpen when he stopped, turning back to Ziva. "Uh… where is he?" he asked her.

Ziva just smiled slightly, chuckling lightly. "Well, his family are waiting for him in the conference room, waiting for him, but I assume that he's being taken to say goodbye to everyone from the bottom floor upwards."

Andy nodded, turning to head out of the bullpen again.

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><p>First stop, Ducky's morgue.<p>

Alex smiled sadly at the older man as he began to tell him a story about how one of his ancient friends left him when he had to return to his family after a holiday, and how sad he had been once the guy had actually left. It was a rather interesting story, yes, but Alex was kind of anxious to see his own family again.

Palmer could see this from where he was standing by one of the autopsy tables, preparing for a body that was reported to be arriving within the next hour or so, and he cleared his throat a little. "Uh, Doctor Mallard…?" he asked hesitantly.

Ducky looked over at Palmer. "Yes, Mr Palmer?"

"Well, uh, I was wondering..." He looked around a little. "Well, we don't exactly know how many bodies will be arriving, so..."

Ducky gave him an exasperated look, whilst the look that Alex gave was a grateful one. Despite the fact that the teen would probably never see them again, he didn't really want to leave days later when Ducky finished his story.

"But Mr Rider here-"

"Doesn't mind," Alex interjected with a smile. "Don't worry if you're busy, Ducky. I could always come back another time to listen to your stories - maybe before we leave for San Francisco."

Ducky gave him a slightly puzzled look, before smiling and nodding. "If you say so, my boy. But don't forget; Palmer and I will miss talking to you, you know."

Alex glanced over at Jimmy, who was smiling at him. "I'm sure you will," the blonde told them, before turning to wheel himself out of the room and over to the elevator. "Bye, Ducky! Bye Palmer!"

"Bye!" Palmer called out, before turning to Ducky, only to be met with a sour expression.

"I cannot believe a man as experienced as you are can't prep his own tables, Mr Palmer. After all these years..."

Alex couldn't help chuckling when he overheard them, meeting Gibbs in the hallway. "Okay, where to next?" he asked.

Gibbs smiled at the teen, taking the handles of the wheelchair and rolling him into the waiting elevator. "How does Abby's lab, sound?" the silver- haired man suggested, grinning at the smile that came on the boy's face.

"Yeah, okay. Jessie's in there, right?" Alex asked, trying not to seem too eager to be seeing Abby and her lab. "Let's go, then!"

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><p>Andy breathed heavily as he sprinted as quickly as he could down the stairs, trying hard not to jostle his injured shoulder. But it was hard, considering you needed your shoulder to move your arm and run faster.<p>

For some reason, the elevator hadn't responded no matter how many times he'd pressed the button, and so he had to take the stairs instead to try and get down to the morgue in the basement. It was a long run, considering he was racing down stairs, but thanks to his sports prowess Andy managed to do it fairly easily.

As soon as he reached the basement floor, he ran over to the door, stopping short when it took its time to open. He walked straight in as soon as it had, and looked around. "Duck? Ducky? Palmer?" he called out, hoping that they were in there.

One of the doors opened, and Ducky walked out, wearing a pair of latex rubber gloves. "Mr Parkson? What are you doing down here, dear lad?"

Andy looked around, breathing heavily. His face fell when he saw no wheelchair, and heard no Alex. "So Alex isn't down here, then…" he said quietly, leaning against a wall for support.

Ducky shook his head. "I'm afraid not, lad." He raised an eyebrow at Andy, noticing how he had deflated when he realised Alex wasn't there. "Is there something the matter, Andrew?"

Andy just shrugged as he looked down at his feet. "Nothing…" he mumbled, before turning to head out of the room. "They're in Abby's lab, right?" he asked again, looking back at the older man.

He nodded, smiling. "Yes, they are."

Andy nodded again, offering Ducky a small smile, before heading back out of the room to the stairs. He wasn't sure whether the lift was still in use, and he didn't want to wait. Besides… the exercise was good for him.

Once Andrew had disappeared, Ducky turned to Palmer, who was still dealing with his wife on the phone. He sighed.

He wondered what was wrong with Andrew…

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><p>Alex smiled at Abby as she bounded around her desk to talk to him. He was, by now, pretty used to the overly-active behaviour from the Forensic Scientist, and just took it in his stride. "Abby, calm down…"<p>

Abby shook her head, still jumping up and down a little. "No, I won't! I won't!" She bounced to a stop in front of him. "Alex, you're not supposed to leave! You shouldn't leave! You have friends here!"

Alex just sighed, looking down at his knees before up at Abby again. "I… I'm sorry, Abby, but I have to go…"

Abby's jumping slowed to a stop, and she looked saddened. She really didn't want Alex to leave, but… he had to go. He was right. "I know…" she mumbled softly.

Gibbs watched the two talking from where he stood, where he was supposed to be watching Jessie play a video game, before walking over to them. "Come on, Jess. We've gotta take Alex back to his parents now."

Alex stared up at Gibbs in confusion. "What, now?" he asked. "But… we've only just got here…"

Abby pouted as well. "Come on, Gibbs! I've barely even talked to him yet!"

"I didn't say that you couldn't come along with us, Abby."

Her green eyes brightened, and she grinned at Alex before running around to the back of his wheelchair and beginning to push him out of the room. "Come on! Off we go to meet your family, Alex!"

Alex just laughed as he was pushed out of the room, with Jessie chasing them and Gibbs just following behind with a smile on his face.

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><p>By the time Andy reached Abby's lab, he was exhausted again, and he was breathing heavily, trying desperately to get air into his lungs. He honestly couldn't believe how unfit he was. Maybe next time, he should take the elevator…<p>

So, he'd been running up all those stairs, exhausting himself…

You could imagine how devastated he was when he found that the lab was, in fact, empty. No one was there.

He leaned against the wall heavily, feeling like he was on the brink of tears. Alex was gone… there was no chance of catching up to him and apologising before he left. He'd be with his family by now, definitely, so he wouldn't be able to stop him at all.

After a couple of minutes, he trudged over to the elevator, getting in and pressing the button for the bullpen's floor. As soon as the doors had closed, he leaned against the back of the moving box, sinking down to the floor and beginning to sob quietly to himself. He couldn't believe it. He'd probably lost the only chance he had to make another friend.

He didn't even notice when the elevator reached the office floor, opening to reveal a giggling Jessie. She stopped short when she spotted her brother crying on the floor, and walked in to sit beside him. "Hey, Andy? What's wrong?" she asked him softly.

He looked up at her, quickly wiping his tears away so that she couldn't see them. He didn't want his little sister to see that he had been crying. That would just be embarrassing. "Nothing," he mumbled quietly.

Jessie frowned, and moved to sit down beside him, pulling her knees up to her chest as he had and hugging them, before looking over at him. "Please, tell me, Andy," she said softly.

Andy sighed and wiped his face, before moving so that his chin was resting on his knees. "He hates me, doesn't he?" he asked her quietly.

She frowned. "Who?"

"Alex."

Her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "No, he doesn't."

"Oh please," he scoffed bitterly. "I've been nothing but horrible to him ever since we found out that his parents have come for him."

"His adoptive parents," the redhead corrected, and Andy sighed.

"Yeah, yeah… I know…" He sighed. "He wants to go home, and I don't blame him for that… I just wish he'd stay for longer…"

Jessie was quiet as she listened to him. She knew how close they were, and how much they cared about each other. To be honest, if she didn't know the two guys this well, she would have thought it was something more. Then, the final statement registered. "Andy… he's still here."

Andy's head shot up, and he turned to his younger sister, his eyes wide. "What was that?" he asked her.

"Alex is still here," she repeated. "He's in the conference room with his sister and parents—" She was cut off when Andy jumped up and headed out of the elevator, heading to the conference room. "—saying his final goodbyes…" She sighed. He hadn't heard that last part anyway. What was the point of saying it?

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><p>"So, this is goodbye, then?"<p>

Alex looked between the members of the team that had gathered there: Tony, McGee, Abby, and even Ziva. Ducky and Palmer were working in autopsy at the moment, but he didn't mind. He'd said goodbye to them already.

In fact, the only person that wasn't there was…

Oh, never mind. He was mad at him anyway.

"Yeah… this is goodbye…" Abby mumbled softly, offering Alex a soft smile.

McGee nodded, smiling at Alex a little and putting his hands into his pockets. For some reason, he felt kind of awkward saying goodbye to the blonde teen.

Tony, on the other hand, didn't feel awkward at all, and he moved forward to hug the guy. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Alex nodded as he hugged Tony back, patting his back. "Yeah… I will." He smiled slightly. "Thanks. For everything."

Tony pulled away and ruffled his hair a little, giving him a fond smile. "No problem, dude."

Alex smiled up at Tony, before turning towards Gibbs. He held out his hand to shake. "Gibbs."

Gibbs took the teen's hand in a firm handshake, smiling a little at him and giving him a nod. "Alex."

"Thanks for… everything."

"No problem."

Alex gave him one last nod, before pulling his hand away.

Ziva cleared her throat a little, attracting Alex's attention. The blonde smiled at her, before wheeling over to the woman. He smiled up at her. "Hey, Ziva."

The Israeli woman leaned down to give him a gentle hug. "Hello, Alex." She pulled away and gave him a small smile. "Do take care of yourself… and no more secrets."

The blonde blushed faintly, but nodded as he pulled away with a small smile. "Yeah, of course. No more secrets." He wheeled back slightly, looking over the whole team with a smile on his face. Almost everyone was there, the slightly dysfunctional family looking happy with him as always.

Well, not everyone exactly. There was one person missing that Alex wished was there. But he wasn't.

Ah well.

"So, I guess, uh…" Alex looked at each of them. He'd never been any good at saying goodbye, and now he was faced with that problem.

Sabina smiled a little, and came up behind Alex, placing a hand on his shoulder. "This is goodbye?" she suggested to him, before looking up at the agents. "For now. Hopefully, when we meet again, it's under better circumstances."

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, hopefully."

Tony grinned at Alex. "If he doesn't get into any more trouble, that is."

Everyone chuckled, although it was clear to see that it was forced coming from Edward and Liz Pleasure.

Sabina put her hands on the wheelchair handles. "Well, off we go, Alex."

Alex nodded as he was wheeled out of the room for what he thought would be the last time. He waved at the team on the way out, giving them all a huge smile, and when the door shut behind them, he was still smiling a little.

"I'm going to miss them," he commented as they headed over to the elevator.

Sabina pressed the down button as she nodded in agreement. "I suppose you are. You've spent… what, our whole holiday with them?"

"It's not my fault I got mild amnesia."

"Of course it isn't."

"That man looked really shifty!"

"I know, Alex."

The two entered the elevator, and their parents got in after them, moving to stand behind them in the lift. The button for the ground floor was pressed, and the doors began to close slowly.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you wouldn't have done it…"

"I actually wouldn't have."

"I mean, if you were me."

"Oh, well in that case—"

Suddenly, a hand came out of nowhere, coming in between the doors and pulling them open.

Alex jumped, his eyes wide, as he stared at the hand… and then at the person that followed.

"So… you were really gonna leave without saying goodbye to me?"

A small smile crept onto Alex's face, recognising the face and the voice immediately. "Andy!"

Andy grinned at Alex, before walking into the elevator. The doors shut behind them. "So, I hear you're leaving…"

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	28. Epilogue

**And here we are! The final chapter/the epilogue is here! Thank you all for sticking with the story, and for reading it as well! I'm really grateful for all the reviews I've got on here!**

**Now, I've been considering it, and there is probably going to be a sequel. The first chapter for it is in the works, so expect it to be up in a couple of weeks. I'll be coming on study leave, so I'll have more time to write unless I'm studying.**

**Anyways, thanks for sticking with me! And read on!**

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><p>It was now September.<p>

It had been about a month since Andy had last seen Alex, let alone heard from him. The two teens had not been in contact with each other for a while, having to get used to their new lives and adjust in time to begin the school year all over again. This often meant that Andy was rarely at home – he either studied in the library, or was studying with one of his friends at their houses. He always made it home in time for dinner, but he was really taking his sports and work seriously this year.

It was on one of these nights that Andy came home, dumping his bag on the floor by the door and kicking his shoes off. "Dad! I'm home!" he called out, picking his bag up again – there had been no need for him to drop it, really – and heading to the kitchen, where he knew Gibbs would be making dinner.

As predicted, the older man stood by the stove, stirring what seemed to be some sort of stew. Probably beef. Or lamb.

Both choices sounded delicious to Andy, and Gibbs was alerted to his presence at the door by his grumbling stomach.

He chuckled and looked over at the boy over his shoulder. "You're hungry, eh?"

Andy grinned sheepishly. "Yeah… you heard it?"

"It's kind of hard not to."

"What's for dinner?"

"Mashed 'taters and beef stew."

"Mmmm…" The teen placed his bag down on the counter as he headed over to the stove.

"Eh, bag off the counter!" Gibbs told him. "Get your ass upstairs and into the shower before you even think of eating this food."

"Aw, come on, dad!" Andy whined, pouting childishly. "Can't I just have a little bit?"

"No."

The teen huffed, turning back towards the door. On his way out, he spotted a couple of doughnuts sitting on the counter. He grinned, grabbing one on his way out. "Thanks for the doughnuts, dad!"

"_Andrew_!" Gibbs chased the teen out of the kitchen, holding up his wooden spoon. "Cheeky bastard!"

Andy just laughed as he raced up the stairs with his bag and the doughnut, sparing a cheeky glance back at his dad before heading to his room. He knew Gibbs wouldn't follow him in there anyway – he was too busy making dinner. "Hey, Jess!" he called out.

Jessica popped her head out of her bedroom and smiled. "Andy, you're back!" She waved at him, a bright smile on her face. "I need your help with some homework!"

"Sure, after I get changed and stuff!"

Gibbs continued to stir the stew, smiling slightly at the conversation going on upstairs. He was pretty sure that every single one of their neighbours could hear the two talking up there. That's when he remembered something important.

"You got a call today, Andy!" he called out as he finished stirring the stew, leaving the stove on a low heat to keep it warm.

"Who from?" Andy called back as he descended the stairs in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"The number's on the refrigerator." Gibbs took a look at Andy as he entered the kitchen. "Oh no, you go back up and take a shower, young man."

"What? But I'm hungry!"

"You ate a doughnut. That should be enough to last you a ten minute shower, Andrew."

"But _dad_—"

"Go and shower."

Andy huffed and turned to head back upstairs. Sometimes… his dad acted as if he had a real stick up his arse.

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><p>It was after dinner that Andy finally managed to get to the note that had been left for him on the fridge. It didn't say much on it, just a phone number – a cell phone number, by the looks of it – and the fact that the note was for Andy. The scrawl was definitely Gibbs' handwriting, so the call must have come before Jessie got home… but who would be calling him at that time of the day?<p>

The teen headed up to his room, shutting the door behind him. If the conversation was going to be private, he didn't want Jessie listening in.

He sat down on his bed and turned on his lamp so that he could read the note easier. He briefly read it before typing the number into his mobile phone.

_Ring-ring… ring-ring… ring—"Hello…?"_

Andy couldn't help jumping slightly when the phone was answered. The voice sounded very familiar… "U-um… hello?"

There was a hesitation on the other line. _"Who is this?"_

"You called me first," Andy replied. "At around… 1600?" He hadn't meant to recite the time the way he did – it came naturally now because he'd lived around military men his whole life.

There was another pause on the other line. Then, _"…So you finally got my message, Andy?"_

Andy's heart leapt into his throat. He should have expected that this person knew his name, but… "Okay, seriously, who is this?" he demanded.

"_Andy, it's me. Alex."_

Andrew was shocked for a couple of moments, before a huge grin spread over his face. "Alex! It's been ages!"

"_I know! How've you been?"_

Gibbs stood by the door to Andy's room, listening to the conversation from one side and smiling.

At least the two boys were still friends.


End file.
